Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

This recipe is from Annie's Eats. I made them these for Hailey's 2nd birthday. It's a chocolate chip yellow cake with an eggless cookie dough filling, topped with a brown sugar buttercream. Definitely not an every day dessert because they're really rich, but awesome if you love cookie dough!



Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Yield:24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)


For the filling:
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips


For the frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2½ tsp. vanilla extract


For decoration:
Tiny chocolate chip cookies
Mini chocolate chips


Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about an hour.

To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture.

To make the frosting, beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.

Frost the filled cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with mini chocolate chips and topping with mini chocolate chip cookies for decoration.

Flourless Chocolate Cake AND Homemade Whipped Cream

This cake is nothing less than amazing.  Really.  Truly.  A-MA-ZING.  And it's gluten-free!  And no, it's not one bit fat-free!!  It's totally fattening and rich!  But it's perfect and it is a keeper - all the way.  It's the kind of cake you have at weddings... or honeymoons... at a fancy hotel... at a fancy restaurant... on cruises... very gourmet.  I tried this out with a group of friends here last night.  There was not a piece left.  Everyone loved it.  We served it with homemade whipped cream and fresh sliced strawberries.  When Sandy emails me the picture of the actual presentation, I'll put it here too.  I found this on allrecipes.com, and HERE is the link. 

~Leah

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 18 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 6 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease one 10 inch round cake pan and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
3. Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
4. Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready, put the cake pan in the larger pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
6. Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

NOTE from Leah:  I only had a 9-inch pan, so I filled it moderately, then poured the rest of the batter into a cupcake pan.  The larger cake was prettier (for presentation), but the little cupcakes turned out alright too.
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Homemade Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1-2 Tbsp powdered sugar (or granulated sugar is fine too)

Whip at high speed in a bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, about 5-7 minutes.  Keep chilled until serving time.

Optional:  Before whipping, add 1 Tbsp any flavorful liqueurs (Kahlua, Rum, Raspberry Schnapps), or small amount of extract (1/4 tsp) such as Almond extract, vanilla, peppermint - whatever you want to make it your own.