Secret Recipe Club time again! In case this is your first time seeing a Secret Recipe post: In the Secret Recipe Club, each blogger is assigned a different blog each month. They secretly choose a recipe, prepare it, and post it on a designated day. It is such a fun group!
This month I was assigned The Spiffy Cookie. I absolutely love the name of Erin’s blog. In addition to recently receiving her PhD in Microbiology, she cooks or bakes almost daily. Like her, I also rarely make the same thing twice (when I ask Chad to rate a meal, he says “What does it matter? I’ll never eat it again” haha). I try to cook for the Secret Recipe Club a couple of weeks ahead of time to give myself some breathing room in case I mess something up. Since I was making this recipe the week of Evan’s birthday, I knew right away I would try out these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes when I saw them. Evan and I shared one the morning of his birthday. I had such fun looking through her blog. While I chose quite the decadent dessert, she has a good mixture of healthy and not so healthy. Other recipes I have saved for later include Breakfast Creme Brulee; S’mores Macarons; Penne with Trapanese Pesto; Baklava Mousse Cups; Gnocchi with Goat Cheese, Grape Tomatoes, and Basil; and Amaretto Chocolate Cheesecake.
There are four parts to these cupcakes: the cake batter, the cookie dough center, the brown sugar frosting, and the mini chocolate chip cookies for the top. Nothing was really difficult; it was just a lot of different parts that I prepped over a couple of days. These were perfect for Evan. He doesn’t really like cake (?!), but he did have a couple of bites around the edges while completely demolishing the frosting and cookie on top.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Adapted from The Spiffy Cookie
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cookie Dough:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons (3/4 cup) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
Cupcakes:
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Frosting:
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To Make the cookie dough filling:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, beat together butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the milk and vanilla until smooth.
- Mix in the flour and salt just until dough comes together and no streaks of flour remain.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Break off a golf ball size piece of dough and roll into a ball. Place on prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining pieces.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
To make the cookies:
- Set the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat to 325˚F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment or lightly grease.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat together butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy.
- Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract.
- Stir in the flour mixture until just combined and dough forms. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Roll a teaspoon size piece of dough into a ball, then break into two equal pieces.
- Place on the prepared baking sheets 1 inch apart, with torn edges facing up. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake in preheated oven for 4 minutes. Turn and rotate the baking sheets, then continue to bake until lightly golden, another 3-4 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheets to room temperature before storing in an airtight container.
To make the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350˚F and line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then vanilla extract.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Alternate adding in the flour mixture and milk to the beaten butter: 1/3rd of the flour, 1/2 the milk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 milk, then last 1/3 flour.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Fill the prepared cupcake liners halfway. Place one frozen cookie dough ball in the center of each batter filled liner, but do not press down. Bake in preheated oven until the edges become golden, 20-22 minutes.
- Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before adding frosting.
To make the frosting:
- In a medium bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the powdered sugar, then the salt, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Pipe or spread over the cooled cupcakes.
- Top with extra mini chocolate chips and the mini chocolate chip cookies.
turnips 2 tangerines
Happy Reveal Day and a great pick! These cupcakes would be great for a party~ Your little one is a cutie:) Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Love love love the photos of your little boy!! The cupcake is almost as big as him :-). And what a cupcake!! They look fantastic and addictive – great pick!
emmajeanne16
I love Erin’s blog and these cupcakes are certainly a winner. What a great birthday treat!! Happy Reveal Day!
Melissa
What an awesome birthday breakfast treat! Great pick this month! 🙂
shockinglydelicious
Brown sugar frosting? I am so there.
Fantastical Sharing (@FantasticalSR)
I cannot wait to tell my husband this bit from your post: when I ask Chad to rate a meal, he says “What does it matter? I’ll never eat it again” – because it’s true in my house too. I don’t think he quite hates it, but he does miss not eating the same thing when it’s something particularly good. Great pick – never go wrong with cookie dough or cupcakes! Happy Reveal Day 🙂
Tara
Thanks! Yep, he said it in a joking manner, but I have since tried to occasionally toss a repeat in the menu plan 😛
bakingaddict
I love Erin’s blog. This is a brilliant recipe and looks like it’s well worth the effort of making the different components.Happy SRC reveal day 🙂
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie
This comment made me happy.
sallybr
What a cute little boy! You can tell his anticipation to dive into the cupcakes – totally understandable… amazing recipe, scrumptious, gorgeous
Have a wonderful Reveal Monday!
lk529
Adorable cupcakes!! Great pick this month.
danielle
Love these – they are adorable! Visiting from Group B.
Rebekah @ Making Miracles
Those cupcakes look wonderful!! Happy birthday Evan!! 🙂
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel
These are adorable!! And they sounds super yummy, too! Great pick!
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie
Yay I am so glad these were such a hit!
hapatite
These are SO cute with the little cookie on top!
Erin @ Table for 7
They look amazing!! Your little guy is adorable too 🙂 Great choice!
avril
I am completely impressed with your cupcakes…completely! Great job Tara!! 🙂
Couscous & Consciousness
Gorgeous. I’m generally not that much of a baker, but seduced by a cookie dough filling I’m pretty tempted to try these.
Sue
sara
Yum!! These are so cute. 🙂
Karen @ Karen's Kitchen Stories
Tara, those photos are adorable!
luly1234
What’s not to love about these?!
iamahoneybee
OMG!!! he is such a cutie! And those are some amazing looking cupcakes!
Hello from Group D!
Tara
Thanks everyone!
TLR
Still in process of trying to make this recipe. The ingredients and Instructions don’t seem to align. In the cookie dough ingredients, it does not call for brown sugar that you are told to add in the instructions. How much brown sugar should be added? Then later in the instructions it says to place the frozen balls in the cupcake batter, but nowhere are you instructed to freeze the balls. I haven’t made it past this part of the recipe.
Tara
Hi TLR! So sorry for the confusion. This recipe was affected when I switched recipe cards a couple of years ago and I didn’t catch it. For the cookie dough, it also has 3/4 cup brown sugar and place the baking sheet in the freezer while you prepare the remaining ingredients.