Lovin' From the Oven

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

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First… you bake your cupcakes. Then, you cut out a dome shaped chunk from the middle:
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And stuff with cookie dough!
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Frost and decorate:
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It’s that time of the year. The time of the year where I always deny that I’m sick. I never get sick. I worked at the Boys & Girls Club for six years; my immune system is immaculate. There’s no way that I can get sick. The truth of the matter is that I’m congested, I can’t sleep comfortably, my throat is swollen shut, and my nose won’t stop dripping. Sorry for the visual… I know they don’t go well with baked goods.
It just so happens that this sick time conveniently meshes with the one week where I’m supposed to work the most days in a row. Am I complaining? A little bit. But I have no reason to complain… I’ll be in San Francisco in 6 days, Paris in 19, and Hawaii in 59. It’s better to be sick now than then, right?
Okay no more complaining. Suck it up, Kim. Just one look at these cupcakes and they’ll make anyone feel better. Cookie dough filling, cookie dough frosting, and a cupcake?! I’ll just knock myself into a sugar coma and sleep it off like a champ.
I used a yellow cake box mix for the cupcakes since these involved enough work as it is, but feel free to use your own from-scratch recipe. The mini cookies that I topped the cupcakes off with were made from Nestle cookie dough (The huge tub from Costco). Ahhh, now that’s a cupcake.
Cookie dough filling from Quick Dish

  • 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
  • 6 Tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips, plus more for decorating
  1. Cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
  2. Gradually mix in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until combined.
  3. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
  4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 15 minutes or until slightly firm.
Cookie dough frosting from The Family Kitchen

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
  1. Beat together butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
  2. Gradually mix in the powdered sugar, flour and salt. and mix until combined. Add milk and vanilla until frosting is smooth.

Dulce de Leche Brownies

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My DB and I are both in workout mode recently to get into shape for our Hawaii trip coming up. How’s that going, you ask? Better than I expected. We’ve been taking leisurely four mile walks, hiking, and I’ve been jump roping/ab-rolling it up. As far as food goes, I seriously suck at that. I just can’t give up sweets for the life of me. How can anyone do that when you’ve got brownies like this in the kitchen? Not me.

Oh dear lord. These brownies are yummalicious. They’re dense, chewy, and have the perfect blend of dulce de leche to kick it up a notch. I can eat dulce de leche by the spoonful, you know. The added walnuts make the brownies dangerously close to tasting like fudge, but I’m not complaining. I cut them into itty bitty bite size strips so you don’t feel as bad eating ten. The Dutch-process cocoa powder is a must for brownies, in my opinion.
Thank you David Lebovitz for introducing this goodness to me (who adapted it from The Sweet Life in Paris).

  • 1/2 cup salted or unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup (25g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup (200g) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (140g) flour
  • optional: 1 cup (100 g) toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup Dulce de Leche (or Cajeta)
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 C).
  2. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
  3. Melt the butter and chocolate pieces together in a medium saucepan until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sugar, vanilla, then the flour. Mix in the nuts, if using.
  4. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan.
  5. Drop one-third of the Dulce de Leche, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter, then swirl through it with a knife. Spread the remaining brownie batter over, then drop spoonfuls of the remaining Dulce de Leche in dollops over the top of the brownie batter. Slightly marble the dulce de leche with a knife.
  6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

P.S. Sorry for the delay, FAQ post coming up later this week!

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

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I know this is a food/baking blog, but I just can’t fathom the events going on in Japan. I need to take a time out from desserts and say this: My heart goes out to all the people and families affected by the earthquake and tsunami. I have been to Japan once before, and I have always been in awe of the kindness that I received while on my trip. Now, it is my chance to give back to them in their time of need. Japan needs our help now, more than ever. I hope we can all come together and pitch in by donating to the Red Cross. Every little bit counts!
These cupcakes were extremely moist– well, obviously, check out the ingredient list! A doctored up cake mix is always an “A” in my book. The frosting turned out a little runny for me and wouldn’t stabilize back together, but that could be because I over mixed the batter. There was also WAY too much frosting, so I’d cut the frosting recipe in half next time for the full amount of cupcakes. Recipe from Eat at Allie’s.
  • 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
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs and water.
  3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  4. Fill the lined muffin cups with 3/4 batter.
  5. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Filling:

  • 8 oz Cool Whip
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
  • 20 Keebler Grasshopper Mint Cookies, crushed
  • Green food coloring
Mix ingredients together until combined.

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