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Posts Tagged ‘cupcakes’

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.

The Perfect Treat for a Halloween Party!

If you want to get creative with your Halloween treats this year, look no farther. The following is a recipe that is sure to satisfy even the scariest taste buds.

Ingredients:

*1 package (about 18 oz.) of your favorite flavor cake mix (we use pumpkin or apple spice mix for Halloween)
*1 tub (16 oz.) vanilla or cream cheese flavored ready-to-spread frosting
*orange food coloring
*1 tube black decorating gel or melted chocolate
*black string licorice
*25 large gumdrops
*24 Halloween themed baking cups

Instructions:

1. Get out a couple muffin pans (enough to hold 24 cupcakes) and place your Halloween-themed paper baking cups inside the tin holders. Also preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a mixing bowl, follow the package instructions to prepare the cake mix batter. Spoon the batter into the muffin baking cups and bake as directed on the cake box (follow the instructions for 24 cupcakes). Cool the cupcakes on a baking rack.

3. In a mixing bowl, mix the tub of ready-made frosting with some orange food coloring until you achieve the desired color. Frost the 24 cupcakes. Be sure to reserve a tablespoon or so of orange frosting to make the spider eyes. NOTE - you can leave the frosting white to make black and white webs if you prefer.

4. Using the black decorating gel, make a series of concentric circles on top of the frosted cupcakes. Then use a toothpick or knife to pull the black gel from the center of the cupcake to the outward edge of the cupcake about 8 times around the cake. This will create the web appearance.

5. To make the spider, take one large gumdrop and attach 3 pieces of black string licorice on each side to create the legs (tip...use a toothpick to make small holes for the licorice insertion into the gumdrop).  Use the reserved orange frosting to make a the eyes on each gumdrop with a toothpick dipped in the frosting. Place a large gumdrop spider on the top of each cupcake.

If you don't have time to do your own Halloween goodie baking, check out our Halloween party cookie gift basket which is overflowing with iced cookies in the shapes of monsters like mummies, cyclops, and witches.

Want to get spooky with your Halloween treats? Try some of these Halloween party food ideas.

Photo courtesy of cutco.com