Cookie dough cupcakes

Quick note:  as of last Thursday, I'm an official guest blogger for Latter-day Woman Magazine! Come join me on a PieQuest—this week will be Hershey's S'mores Pie, so be sure to subscribe to my free updates, or the whole magazine blog!

I definitely didn't see anything in my son's Wednesday Folder about a bake sale to accompany his school's carnival (*cue my mom and sisters swooning that our baby could be SO BIG*). But I couldn't miss the purple slip of paper advising us that they hadn't gotten a lot of donations, and we could bring them to the carnival if need be.

When you're wayward and crafty, you'd better plan on bringing them to the carnival. Late.

Anyway, I just finished a book called Always the Baker, Never the Bride, and the eponymous baker heroine had won awards with her Crème Brûlée Wedding Cake. So my first thought was Crème Brûlée Cupcakes. Though I found (and pinned!) some really awesome recipes, I realized we didn't have nearly enough time, since the carnival was starting in . . . about three hours. Awesome.

On one of the websites with a crème brûlée cupcake recipe, though, was another tempting treat: Cookie Dough Cupcakes (from How to Eat a Cupcake).


The recipe for the cupcakes themselves came from the Cake Mix Doctor, but How to Eat a Cupcake's link to the CMD's site didn't work, and a search of her site didn't show the recipe, either.

But I wasn't giving up that easily. In a past life, I was an Internet marketing professional, so I pulled out my toolbox and found an online archival copy of the recipe (it takes a few minutes to load).

The recipe is also found on pages 124-125 of Cupcakes: From the Cake Mix Doctor. (The book also happens to have a recipe for making mini crème brûlées in cupcake tins on pages 294-295.)

The basics: they're yellow cake mix a little dressed up, but I don't know that all the dressing was necessary—the extra oil made the cake a bit greasy.

Then you need frozen cookie dough. The Cake Mix/Cupcake Doctor says:
If you use the 18-ounce logs of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough (instead of the 1-pound packages of frozen dough), cut them into 24 equal pieces and freeze them before using them in this recipe. It's important to use frozen dough, because you don't want it to bake completely and become a cookie. You want the center to be gooey when you bite into it.
 We went to/called four local grocery stores and not one carried frozen cookie dough. And, as I mentioned, we were on a time crunch, so I'd initially rejected the idea of a refrigerator cookie dough, but I had no other choice. My mother-in-law was visiting, and we opened the 1 lb. package and put the 24 cookie dough cubes into plastic baggies and stuffed them in the coldest places in the freezer.

After about 40 minutes, they were pretty firm, so I mixed up the cake. Then my mother-in-law and I poured them into the cupcake liners. Now, here is the tricky and hard part: getting a gooey nugget of raw cookie dough (come on, you know you love it) in the middle of a cooked cake. See if you can pick up on our technique:


Yeah. Just stick 'em on top.


The batter swallows them up in the oven.

Unfortunately, sometimes they cave in pretty badly:


But if you get them browned, they're a bit more stable (ignore the cheap, ugly muffin tins):


I happened to have some canned vanilla frosting on hand, and I added about 2 Tbsp of cocoa, which actually tasted pretty good. We also had come Cookie Crisp, so that became our decoration.


Now, of course, I totally spaced on taking a picture of the most important part: the cookie dough in the middle! Here's the idea (notice the void left by the cookie dough—be careful when taking the cupcakes out of the pan!) but our cookie dough spread out a bit more and didn't quite get all the way to the bottom:

Flickr photo by Kristin Ausk of Meringue Bake Shop

I think they'd be better chilled than room temp, and I'd reduce the oil in the recipe. (In fact, I'd probably just make a regular cake mix and follow their directions.)

The worst part: we didn't label our cupcake tray for the bake sale, so nobody knew what they were getting when they bought these. I wonder if they liked the surprise (or knew what it was!) . . .

What do you think? What's the most unusual cupcake you've ever had or made?

25 comments :

Just Jaime said...

These look tasty! I love the little cookies on top!

Nikki Monet said...

So Yummy!! I loooove cookie dough! I would love it if you would stop by and share this at my linky party!
http://everything-underthemoon.blogspot.com/2011/09/bedazzle-me-monday-1.html

Tracy said...

These look soooooo good.
I think I can actually smell them ;)

KrissyClarkMcKee said...

I don't think a little extra oil would keep me from eating these; they look yummy!

Jill said...

Oh they look delicious! I don't think I can think of any unusual cupcakes I've eaten! How boring of me!

Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a great week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

Big D and Me said...

Umm, you had me at cupcake - these look amazing - I can practically taste them right now

Heather Landry said...

These look delicious!!! Now I'm totally hungry. Thanks for sharing!

Heather said...

You are one determined baker! And they look delicious! :)

raising4princesses said...

now that's just heavenly! Thanks for sharing, I started a link party at my blog and I'd love for you to link this up. If you're interested it's http://caribbeanmissionarywife.blogspot.com/ Have a lovely day, Maria

Lady Behind The Curtain said...

I love your recipe! Would you come over to CAST PARTY WEDNESDAY at Lady Behind The Curtain and share your recipe with us tomorrow?
Thanks,
I hope to see you there!
http://ladybehindthecurtain.com

Tara @ Tales of a Trophy Wife said...

Looks yummy. The fanciest ones I've ever made were Lemon Meringue-they were yummy. http://trophyw.blogspot.com/2011/04/lemon-meringue-cupcakes.html

Jenny @ Simcoe Street said...

YUM!

Anonymous said...

These look wonderful!

Jami said...

Hi Jordan! I love cookie dough cupcakes (I have a recipe on my blog, too!) The detail of the tiny choc chip cookies on top is perfect! Thanks so much for stopping by and linking up to the Tuesday To To Party!
Smiles!
Jami
www.blackberryvine.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Sounds yummy. Thanks for linking up with DIY under $5!

Unknown said...

Oh my, my mouth is watering! These look so yummy! Who would have ever thought too. I would love for you to link up with us at http://www.thesasselife.com/2011/09/link-party-5.html. Hope to see you there.
Newest follower,
Kim
www.thesasselife.com

we also have giveaway going on too!

Mom Daughter Style said...

Thanks for sharing this great recipe idea. I'm visiting from Inspiration Friday. I hope you take a visit at my blog if you have time.

http://momdaughterstyle.blogspot.com/

ker said...

Over here from Sassy Sites because, honestly, there's nothing I love more than cookie dough. This is a must-try. TFS

Melanie @ bear rabbit bear said...

These look yummy! Can't wait to try them. Thanks for linking to Things I've Done Thursday!

Melanie
bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com

Gillian said...

This recipe sounds A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I love cookie dough! I'm gonna have to give this a try soon.

Newly following via GFC through the 'Sassy' hop!

Gillian from Baby Talk without the Babble

Patricia said...

Popping in from Show and Tell saturdays.. I love this idea and will have to give it a try. Who doesn't love cookie dough?

Thanks, Patricia

Honey at 2805 said...

These really look good, gals!

Thanks for linking to Potpourri Friday!

Chef in Training said...

yum! These look great! I would love for you to come link this and/or any other projects you have been up to at the Tuesday Talent Show! Hope to see you there!
-Nikki
http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/

Diann said...

This looks so yummy! I will definitely give this a try! And congrats on your guest blogging! Thank you for joining TTF and I am so sorry I am so late in visiting this week!

Marie said...

YUMMY! Thanks so much for linking up with us at Show & Share! Hope you’re joining us again this week!
http://mylilpinkpocket.blogspot.com/2011/10/show-share-8.html

Marie
Mylilpinkpocket.blogspot.com

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