Cupcake of the Month-Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Hello everyone! Life has been very busy, and it is going to continue for the next few weeks. I will be posting but just slightly less than I like.

If you know me than you know I love sweets. I believe I mentioned it millions of times before. My all time favorite is cakes or cupcakes. I don't know why, but I love the texture of cake and than the frosting. Frosting is my favorite. I love it. I could eat a tub of it, but I prefer to make homemade frosting.  Is it bad that I am typing this and craving frosting?!

Today I decided to show you guys my cupcake of the month a little early. These cupcakes are amazing! I found them online and I adapted them to make it a little easier, but when I bring these to work, or my roommate brings my sweets to work they always say that they are very rich. I really don't try to make them rich, they just come out that way.

The cupcakes were very light so I am glad I didn't add a filling. I was a little worried that the cupcakes wouldn't hold the frosting, but it did just fine. I also didn't pipe the frosting because I really wanted the cookie dough frosting to look, well like cookie dough. I left it and hoped it would look a little chunky. It turned out great. You could pipe the frosting, just don't add the chocolate chips to the frosting because they will get stuck in your frosting tips.

I really hope you guys try these they are so good!

Here's how to do it:

Ingredients/recipe

Cupcakes adapted from The Cake Doctor

1 (18.25 ounce) package of plain white cake mix
3 tbs vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of milk
 3 large eggs
1 ts vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350. Line your cupcake pan with liners.

Place the cake mix, pudding, sour cream oil water, eggs and extract in a mixing bowl, and beat on  low speed until the ingredients are mixed. Stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl and increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. The batter should be blended.

Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into your cupcake tin. Bake the cupcakes until the tops are golden and spring back about 18-22 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool for 5 minutes and take the cupcakes out of the pan and cool on a wire rack until cool,before frosting.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough frosting, adapted from Annie Eats 

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
2 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 bag of chocolate chips chopped (or you could use mini)

Beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth and creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar until smooth, than beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended. Frost Cupcakes.

I really hope you guys try these they are delish and out of this world good.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Reese’s Cupcakes-Cupcake of the Month

Well its early in the month, but I am so excited about these cupcakes! I am starting something new for each month and doing a cupcake of the month. I’ve made these last month, actually two months ago for the March Birthdays at my job. It’s also a special month because I turn 21…again lol. Not that I am much older than that, but 21 is a good age because I am able to have a nice beverage. 

I know I normally preach about eating healthy, but I always say everything in moderation. These might go a little over the top, but these are really good, and I hope you guys try these. I took an element from a lot of my favorite blogs and made them into one. These are my Chocolate Peanut Butter Reese’s Cupcakes. These are a doctored up chocolate cake mix, with a Reese’s cup inside and a swirled chocolate and peanut butter frosting. 

If you do not have frosting tips to swirl the frosting, this is what I would do:  Frost the cupcakes with the peanut butter frosting and then make a chocolate ganache. 

Here’s how to do it.

Ingredients/Recipe

Adapted from A Bitchin' Kitchen

Reese's cup inside inspired by Our Best Bites

 

1 box cake mix (I use Devil's Food Cake)

1 box (3.5 ounces) instant chocolate pudding

2 cups sour cream

3 large eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

24 Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups plus about 12 extra for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cupcake liners in two cupcake pans. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, pudding, sour cream, eggs, oil and water on medium speed, until well combined. Fill each cupcake liner about 1/3 full with cupcake batter. Top with an unwrapped mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and top  with batter making sure the Reese's cup is covered (I but my Reese's cup upside down) and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick cups out clean.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. 

When the cupcakes our cool, frost the cupcakes and garnish with the left over Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Frosting recipes follow.

 

Peanut Butter Frosting 

From Ina Garten

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth. 

Chocolate frosting

From Our Best Bites

1/2 c. melted butter
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 c. evaporated milk
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat together the frosting ingredients on high speed until light and fluffy

I also learned how to swirl the cupcakes from Our Best Bites and they have a great tutorial here. I had a little problem with the swirling of the frosting, but that was my fault.

Thank you to my favorite blogs that inspired this cupcake. I hope you guys try these they are so good.

 

Enjoy!