Cookie Gift Baskets Tip & Recipe Blog

Archive for the ‘Cupcakes’ Category

If you’re a cupcake lover, you’ll flip for cookie dough cupcakes. Never heard of them? These luscious cupcakes are filled with frozen cookie dough and topped with a cookie dough frosting. Could anything be better than cupcakes and cookies? If these don’t cure your craving for sweets, nothing will.

The idea is to make a plain cupcake batter and to place a scoop of frozen cookie dough inside. Because it’s frozen, it will not bake all the way. The result will be a fully baked cupcake with a creamy cookie dough center. It’s ok to eat the cookie dough in a semi-cooked state (and even raw for those who can’t resist!) because the recipe uses no eggs. It is not recommended that people eat raw eggs, so this recipe is a good solution.

Bake up a batch and watch them disappear!

Recipes courtesy of http://www.lovintheoven.com

BROWN SUGAR CUPCAKES

(Yields about 12 cupcakes)

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.

Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds after each.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Measure out milk and vanilla together.

Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.

Add about one third the milk/vanilla mixture and beat until combined.

Repeat above, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture.

Place previously prepared frozen cookie dough ball (mine were fairly big) into cup liners, then fill about half to three-quarters full of cupcake batter.

Bake for 20-22 minutes until golden and the cake springs back when lightly touched. (Testing by using a toothpick would be insufficient because of the gooey cookie dough in the center).

COOKIE DOUGH FROSTING

(Recipe from The Cupcake Review. Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes.)

1-3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

Eggless cookie dough (recipe below)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 1-1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, unsalted butter, salt, and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.

Add milk and continue mixing until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary. With the mixer running, slowly add remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, mix until well combined.

At this point you can mix in the eggless cookie dough. Mix in enough cookie dough to suit your taste. Any cookie dough leftover you can gladly eat! There are no eggs in it so it is safe. Yum!

EGGLESS COOKIE DOUGH

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

2 teaspoons water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Cream the butter and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add water and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and salt and stir to combine. Stir in mini chocolate chips (optional).

Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

We've taken the deliciousness of a Pineapple Upside Down Cake and made it bite sized!  Perfect for a Sunday morning brunch, cupcakes are garnished with a pineapple ring and maraschino cherry along with brown sugar for a sweet and fruity treat!

Ingredients:

Cake Batter
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 1/2teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar, tightly packed
12 maraschino cherries
2 (20-ounce) can pineapple rings

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350º. Place butter and milk for the batter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Warm the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the butter melts, then transfer the mixture to a small bowl to cool.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the pineapple topping. Melt the butter and mix it with the brown sugar. Spoon about 1 T of the mixture into each cup of a 12-cup gourmet muffin pan.

3. Place one pineapple ring int the center if each cupcake tin and put one cherry in the center of each pineapple. Slightly press the fruit into the topping mixture to coat it.

4.  In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir the ingredients with a fork until they're evenly blended. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir until the flour is fully incorporated. Add the milk-butter mixture and stir well to combine the ingredients into a smooth batter.

5. Pour the batter into the muffin pan, dividing it evenly among all the cups. Bake the cupcakes until they're lightly browned, dry around the edges, and pulling away from the pan a little, about 25 minutes.

6. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 5 minutes. Use a butter knife to carefully loosen each cupcake from the edges and bottom of the pan, then place a cookie sheet over the top. Invert the pan, turning the cupcakes out onto the cookie sheet, then transfer them back to the rack to cool completely. Serve the cupcakes at room temperature.

Picture courtesy of rbertieg on Creative Commons.

It's still summer, so it's still the perfect time to whip up some S'Mores!  Or even better yet, how about some S'Mores Cupcakes?  All the delicious flavor of a S'Mores in a cupcake - what more could you ask for?  These are perfect for that company picnic, family gathering or church bake sale.

Everything with this recipe is from scratch, so if you need to cut some corners a box mix of your choice can be used.

Ingredients:

For the graham cracker crust:
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup sugar
5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the cake:
2 cups plus 2 tbsp. sugar
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup plus 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1½ tsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the frosting:
8 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
½ tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter; mix well with a fork.  Drop about 1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom. Sprinkle a small amount of the chopped chocolate on top of the graham cracker crusts.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven (keep oven on).

To make the cake batter, sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on low speed just to combine.  In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; whisk together.  Add to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Add the boiling water and stir just to combine (batter will be thin).

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ of the way full.  Return the pans to the oven and bake about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler. (Note: I just set my clean, dry mixer bowl over simmering water, to avoid dirtying two bowls.) Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it reaches 160° F with an instant-read thermometer.  Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whisk starting at low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form.  Mix in the vanilla until combined.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.  Brown with a kitchen torch and garnish with chocolate and graham cracker segments (optional).

Nothing goes together better than Peanut Butter and Chocolate.  But this time, we're not talking cookies! Take the deliciousness one step further by combining the 2 flavors in a cupcake!

Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 tablespoons baking cocoa
- 1 1/4 cups 2% milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 large eggs

Directions

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If desired, line cupcake pans with paper liners. You may also spray cupcake pan with a butter and flour combination spray that can be found in your local grocery store.

(2) Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix at low speed for 30 seconds while scraping bowl. Mix at high speed for 3 minutes, scraping bowl every minute.

(3) Spoon cupcake batter into liners until they are 1/2 to 2/3 full. You should have enough batter for 24-36 cupcakes.

(4) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

(5) Cool 10 minutes in pans then move to wire rack to cool completely.

(6) For Frosting, Combine 1/2 cup softened butter with 1 cup creamy peanut butter (crunchy can also be used). Add 2 cups powdered sugar (sifted after measuring), and up to 1/4 cup heavy cream until you get the consistency you want. For an extra special touch you can top with a mini peanut butter cup!

For an extra twist on this recipe, try making Reese's Peanut Butter Cupcakes.