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Semi-homemade meets a good cause-I’m so rocking Sandra Lee style today with a tub of school fund-raising cookie dough.
Some of you may be ready to click away, but do me a favor…keep reading because the end result it worth your time. I’m typically not a big fan of using premade cookie dough, but I am a fan of taking action when it comes to raising money for schools. Whether it’s stale popcorn, hideous wrapping paper or double chocolate chunk cookie dough, if it’s for a school, I’m writing a check!
So with a giant tub of cookie dough in one hand and my mixer primed for some action, the pre-made dough ends up being the surprise star in these adorable Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes.
These glorious gems of chocolate goodness are topped with my favorite vanilla buttercream frosting recipe, mini chocolate chips, and a cute little cookie. Not only did I top these Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes with a miniature cookie, I also baked a little ball of dough into their centers! As you can see from the photo, the cookie bakes up beautifully inside the cupcake and it almost takes on the fluffy texture of the cake that surrounds it. Genius, right? Well I certainly thought so, although I’m betting I’m not the first to have this cookie dough cupcake epiphany!
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
1/2 cup warm water
For the Frosting
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Directions:
For the Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine instant espresso granules and warm water, stirring until dissolved. Add espresso mixture to the cake batter and stir until fully incorporated.
3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.
4. Measure .4 ounce balls of cookie dough (about 1 teaspoon) and drop a ball of dough into each cupcake. Be sure to use a spoon to completely cover the dough ball with batter.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick entered into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.
For the Frosting
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.
2. Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
For the Garnish
1. Garnish your cupcakes with mini semi-sweet chocolate chips and a mini chocolate chip cookie.
2. To make the mini cookies, I simply measured out 24 .4 ounce (about 1 teaspoon) balls of dough and baked them according to package directions (about 8-10 minutes). Allow mini cookies to cool completely before adding them to the cupcakes.
Notes:
- If you are choosing to garnish your cupcakes, make sure you do this immediately after you frost your cupcakes. Once the top layer of the buttercream hardens, nothing will stick to the frosting.
- If you do not have instant espresso powder, you can simply omit it from the recipe. You can typically find this product in the coffee aisle of most supermarkets.
Follow Jamie on Instagram. We love to see what you're baking from MBA! Be sure to tag @jamiemba and use the hashtag #mbarecipes!
can I freeze these and take them out the day before the party
Marianna–
You can freeze the cake, not the frosting. Thanks for stopping by.
Jamie
Soo cute!!!
Just made these today for my husband’s Aunt who just lost her husband. I know these wil help. Can’t wait to try one myself.
Hello! This is such a wonderful idea, and I was just curious about the frozen cookie dough. Do you thaw it before you put it into the cupcake batter, or does it get dropped into the batter completely frozen?
Thank you so much for your time and all the wonderful recipe ideas!
Lynette–
Thanks so much for stopping by and your kind words.I used refrigerated cookie dough, not frozen. Hope this helps.
–Jamie
Hi Jamie!
I was wondering if you had made these again, but with your own cookie dough batter yet? Instead of refrigerated cookie dough? Wondering which of your c-c-cookie dough recipes you would use! They still look amazing and I really need to make these soon!
Hi Jamie – these look awesome!! I’m not totally into the coffee flavor though, can I omit the espresso? If so, should I make any other substitutions and/or does the cake flavor still finish well? I really want to try these soon!
PS – love your blog!
Jen-
The espresso really isn’t detectable, but you can certainly omit it. Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Jamie
This was a great recipe to make. However, I was wondering, do I have to put the cupcakes in the fridge after I frost them? Does the frosting since it contains butter spoil if I dont put it in the fridge?
Jackie-
I recommend storing the cupcakes in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Allow the cupcakes to come to room temperature before serving.
Jamie
I just discovered your blog and I am completely in love with all of the fabby cupcake recipes! So far, I think I’ve bookmarked about five, but I get the feeling that the final number will be even more. They all look so yummy! :)
i was inspired to make some of my own! most recipes i’ve seen are for vanilla cupcakes + cookie dough, but i liked your idea of chocolate cupcakes. i’m also always trying to emulate your piping skills…always beautifully done. plus from the looks of it, i think we have the same feelings about frosting to cake ratios! thanks for the inspiration!
Cute! Seems in line with the stuffed-cookie craze that is sweeping the blog world….and a good way to zazzle up storebought cookie dough!
I made these for superbowl Sunday and they were fantastic. Everyone loved them. I bought some to work the next day and they were enjoyed there to. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.