Twice as Nice Cupcakes

Cookie dough is by far one of my biggest temptations. When I make cookies, the dough is often times more enjoyable in my opinion than the baked cookie and I'm not sure why. My favorite ice cream flavor is still chocolate chip cookie dough, and the cookie dough blasts they would have at sonic, or the dairy queen blizzard with brownie batter and cookie dough bits in it, sinful.To my utter enjoyment, when I arrived home Wednesday after an exhausting day and still somewhat in shock about Gourmet's closing, another blog that I follow and adore had a lovely recipe for cookie dough truffles (you should read her blog too, I find it very enjoyable).

I was planning to make the cookies and the cookie dough truffles that same evening to get over my midweek, colder weather's-a-coming blues, but for whatever reason ended up postponing it. Saturday, I was still thinking about making them to take over on Sunday to my parents. But then I was stuck in a quandary. My love for cookie dough is not unnatural, as my family loves cookies, to the point that an amazing disappearance of three or four dozen cookies in one afternoon (there are five of us) may or may not have occurred in the not too distant past. With that in mind though, I decided to nix the double cookie temptation route, and to use the cookie dough bits in a cupcake instead and see how they turned out.

I have to say, I was pretty happy with the way they turned out, and I heard no complaints, nor saw any left which I usually take to be a good sign. With the caramel frosting on the top, they very sweet, but still quite tasty!

Mini Cookie Dough  Truffles courtesy of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody  

¼  cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup packed brown sugar
½  tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
7 oz sweetened condensed milk
¼  cup mini chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.Beat in vanilla.

Slowly add flour, alternating with condensed milk, beating well after each addition.

Add chocolate chips and blend until fully incorporated. Place into fridge for about 10 minutes  before rolling.

Shape balls into ¼ -inch balls and  lightly dust with flour to prevent from sticking (approx. 1 tbsp) and place into an air tight container. Freeze for at least three hours.

Rich Chocolate Cupcakes

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp triple sec, or Grand Marnier*

1/4 Cup Flour

 *Can substitute strongly brewed coffee as well

 Line 12-cup muffin pan with muffin papers.  In small heavy saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over medium-low heat, stirring until melted and smooth, about 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat.

Beat  in sugar. Add eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add liqueur and mix until thick ribbon falls when beaters or whisk are lifted.. Sift flour over over mixture and using a spatula, gently fold in flour. Divide batter among muffin papers. Cover and chill until cold and firm, at least 25 minutes.

 Once ready, preheat oven to 400°F. Divide batter among cupcakes. Place on or two cookie dough truffles (depending on size) into the middle of the cupcake. Bake cupcakes in papers on baking sheet until tops are puffed and cracked and tester inserted into center comes out with moist batter attached, about 7 minutes.

These are pretty rich as I said, so if you want to stop here, they'll still be quite tasty, or you could simply serve them with some whipped cream. Or, you could keep reading and go all out!

Caramel Frosting

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp heavy cream

1/2 Cup brown sugar

1 Cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt butter over medium heat in heavy saucepan. Add cream and brown sugar when butter has just started to warm and melt. Mix well. Allow to boil for one minute.Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and mix well. Allow to cool slightly (1-2 minutes) and add remaining powdered sugar and vanilla. If icing seems to stiff, add a small amount of milk or heavy cream. If mixture seems too runny, allow it to sit for a few minutes before stirring. If it still seems too runny, add a small amount of powdered sugar (although it sets up very quickly. Once icing is at a spreadable consistency pipe or ice cupcakes as soon as quickly as possible (as the icing sets up quickly once cooled).

Enjoy!!