I discovered this recipe a few years ago and THANK GOODNESS I DID because it's been a go-to ever since. Multiple people have told me this is their favorite cupcake I've ever baked, and that's saying something because I bake a lot of cupcakes and share them with a lot of people. It's actually both of my brothers' favorite flavor, and they've tried just about everything I've ever baked.
You may recognize these from this beautiful image in my cupcake creations portfolio:
I first baked these after having a cookie dough cupcake at Kickass Cupcakes in Somerville, MA, one of my favorite spots for market research. I was determined to figure out how to bake cookie dough into a cupcake and keep the dough uncooked inside...how did they do it?!
I decided to take a whack at it for Father's Day since my dad loves cookie dough ice cream. After lots of research, I found a thorough tutorial from Kevin & Amanda that sounded like it would work. The secret is that you freeze balls of cookie dough before dropping them in the batter in each cup so that the dough thaws but does not bake while the batter bakes around it. Genius!
The recipe I found also has a buttery, brown sugary frosting that goes right along with the cookie dough theme. They are out of this world!
Try not to be alarmed by the amount of butter in this recipe because it's actually insane. Definitely don't calculate the amount of butter per cupcake - I made that mistake and I just don't recommend it.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Recipe from Kevin & Amanda
MAKES 28 CUPCAKES
INGREDIENTS:
COOKIE DOUGH
2 sticks softened butter
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2½ cups all purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips
CUPCAKES
3 sticks softened butter
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
FROSTING
3 sticks softened butter
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups powdered sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
At least 2 hours and up to a day before baking the cupcakes, prepare the cookie dough balls. Cream the butter, sugars, milk and vanilla. Slowly add the rest of the dry ingredients. Note that there are no eggs, baking powder or baking soda in this cookie dough because it doesn't need to bake!
Form 28 balls (a bit larger than a tablespoon - most likely larger than you think!) and place on a tray lined with parchment paper, then stick in the freezer right up until you need them.
When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare the cupcake batter. Combine the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Slowly add the rest of the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk.
Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full with batter. Stick a frozen cookie dough ball into each one.
Bake for 18 minutes or until the cake part is cooked through. It's fine if the dough is showing because you'll be topping them with frosting!
To make the frosting, cream the butter and then slowly add the sugars and other ingredients until it's a firm frosting consistency.
Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips. I used a pastry bag and a 1M Star tip to do a basic swirl:
Once you've frosted them, sprinkle them with mini chocolate chips.
This cross section showing the cookie dough inside barely does it justice:
You'll notice that these cupcakes weigh a ton because they're just packed with deliciousness. Enjoy!