These were made in celebration of my dad’s birthday two days ago– Happy Birthday Dad! I originally baked a brown sugar cupcake, but those didn’t turn out so great for me… probably because I didn’t have brown sugar on hand and made my own by creating a mixture of white sugar & molasses. So after disposing a batch of failure cupcakes into the trash can, I decided just to go with a simple french vanilla based cupcake instead.
I was planning to put cookie dough in the middle of the cupcake, but in order to do that, you have to use well-frozen cookie dough so that it doesn’t cook all the way while baking inside the cake batter. Since I didn’t have time to freeze the cookie dough, I just left my cupcakes the way they were and focused on the frosting. The next time that I attempt these (there will definitely be a next time, if not a third and a fourth), I’ll make sure to have enough time to freeze the cookie dough in advance. Cookie dough inside the cupcake would have been a welcomed addition! The frosting itself was very rich and decadent. It’s EXTREMELY sweet before mixing in the eggless cookie dough. I couldn’t stop eating the eggless cookie dough batter that you mix into the frosting. It’s so addicting! PLUS, it’s okay for you to eat because it’s eggless! Double points.
Have I mentioned how much I hate piping frosting? I swear I’m terrible at it and always make the biggest mess while doing so. I envy the talented pipers out there! This frosting was a bit frustrating because the mini chocolate chips would get stuck in the tip, causing my frosting to go all over the place. I’d have to use a toothpick to unjam my tip every now and then. I wouldn’t waste time piping frosting onto cupcakes if they weren’t so gosh darn cute. Curse the cuteness (but not really because we all know how everyone’s a sucker for a good lookin’ cupcake)!
Brown Sugar Cupcakes
(Recipe from Cupcake Bakeshop. Makes 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 confectionersβ 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
(Recipe from How To Eat A Cupcake)
- 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.
My Daily Vintage says
wowwwww. i need to make these asap!
Fearless Kitchen says
What a great idea! I’ll have to try these sometime soon.
Emily says
Great foodie blog!
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Share your favorite recipes and get some new ones to try! Check it out! Tell your friends!
Sara says
What a fun blog, I love your photography. These cupcakes looks heavenly (even at 8:40 am! I’d love one for breakfast right now!) I’ve never thought of combining cupcakes and cookie dough- brilliant!
-Sara
chef_d says
Interesting, I might give this a try soon…
MommyAmy says
Yum!!!
That’s all I have to say. π
Rebecca says
Oh neat! I’m glad to see that someone actually made the cupcake. I hope you have less troubles the next time you make them.
Zita says
Cookie dough frosting sounds like fun π
HannaBanana4511 says
I was planning to make peanut butter cookies but happened to check your blog(who am i kidding… i check it every day!) and knew that I could not wait another day to make these cupcakes!! I am eating one right now and it is absolutely delicious, my roomates are raving as well!
The Food Librarian says
These look so much fun! Happy Birthday to your dad! Your piping looks great too!
apparentlyjessy says
Mmm, these look very good. I love how delicate they look too. I have always wanted to try cookie dough frosting, thank you for the recipe!
Hayley says
I don’t think I’ve ever read a cupcake recipe that sounded as tasty as this. Cookie dough frosting? Genius! Thanks for sharing!
Bri says
Your cupcakes are beautiful. I find it very strange though that you and I made these cupcakes at the same time. I just posted my version on my blog! Fantastic job, it looks wonderful.
Ingrid says
You’re right your cuppy cake is awful cute and the swirled frosting sealed the deal. Lovin’ these!!!
Happy birthday, Dad!
~ingrid
Andrea says
Beautiful cupcakes! You certainly can’t tell that you hate doing the icing, you’re so good at it. I love the idea of the cookie dough in the middle. Thanks for the tip about freezing it so it doesn’t turn in to a cooked cookie!
Anicka says
Wow, eggless cookie-dough frosting? Great idea. Totally have to do it today, maybe with lemon cupcakes to balance out the sweet decadence π
Kim says
my daily vintage- most definitely! π
fearless kitchen- i hope you do! they’re delicious.
emily-sounds fun! i’ll definitely take a look into it.
sara- thank you! i have no problems eating sweets for breakfast. π
chef d- go for it!
mommyamy- i felt the same way. haha.
rebecca- thanks for the recipe and for sharing! i’ll have to try the cupcakes again next time, but with brown sugar. i loved it!
zita- it’s quite addicting.
hanna- thanks for the continued support and coming back to my blog! i’m so glad you go to try them and love them as much as i did!
the food librarian- thanks so much!
apparentlyjessy- you’re welcome!
hayley- no problem!
bri- thanks and that really is so weird. i just checked out yours and yours look just as delicious. i guess great minds think alike! π
ingrid- thank you!
andrea- thank you!
anicka- go for it. let me know how they turn out!
Holz says
Oh. My. God.
Just found your blog… I’m gonna get faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.
Melissa says
Those look like fun! I think I am going to have to try them!
Danielle says
I JUST made these. They are sooo delicious and can’t wait to share them with my friends. I’m sure it depends on the oven, but I think 20-22 min might be too long as mine got a little dark and dry but were still very very soft, so that was good. Your piping looked great! Don’t worry about it. Mine always looks so homemade. I wish I had a piping kit! That’s my next kitchen purchase I think. finally, after this long comment, thanks for sharing!
Taylor says
What is the french vanilla cupcake recipe?
Sophie says
Two tasty desserts in one! π
I think this is the first cookie dough cupcake recipe I’ve come across.
babalaura@hotmail.com says
Great web site. Good for you. Thank you for your recipe for cup cakes. My 14 year old and I have just popped what’s left of the batter in the oven. I hope the cakes taste as good as the batter.
Hillary says
I’ve forgotten how much I like cookie dough! Thanks for reminding me!
Stephane says
These look delicious! Next time, you might want to do what I do and put the chips on the frosting after you pipe it on to stop clogs.
Anonymous says
These look sooo good! π
Becky says
I modified a couple things and they turned out really fantastic (though, SUPER rich, might be better as mini-cupcakes) I like to use a bit of dark maple syrup- the kind with molasses- to keep the cupcakes moist, so I used 1/4 C less brown sugar in the cupcake and replaced it with the same amount of syrup.
Also- wanted to emphasize the chocolate in the frosting, so I added ~2 T cocoa powder.
Cheers!
Lauren Hefner says
I made these tonight for my mom’s 50th birthday tomorrow. π The frosting is a bit soft so I’m worried about how they’ll end up tomorrow during the day (though we’ll refridgerate them most of the day). We didn’t put cookie dough in the middle, but the brown sugar cake plus the cookie dough frosting turned out wonderfully. We took your advice about the difficulty of piping them with chocolate chips – just sprinkled the chips on top. π
These were the first cupcakes I’ve ever baked from scratch. My husband just about DIED of happiness. π
Anonymous says
I was looking for a basic yummy cupcake recipe to use up some white chocolate cream cheese frosting I had left over, and made the brown sugar cupcake recipe. They came out lovely, all fluffy, golden and delicious! Love your blog!
springtimelove says
Hi! These look so great. Quick question: For the cookie dough that goes into the center of the cupcake, do I need to divide a certain amount from the Eggless Cookie Dough that is made for the frosting, or just make a second batch? Thanks!
Anonymous says
i’m sitting here about to have my first bite of a freshly frosted cupcake and…
YUM!
so delicious, and super sweet.
Anonymous says
AMAZING! i just made these, and all i have to say is wow!
Rachel says
I made this icing with dark chocolate cupcakes and my friend just told me they were better than sex. Fantasic, she doesn’t want me to share this recipe with anyone else.
Tracy says
these look fantastic. i think someone asked this earlier and there was no reply… should the eggless cookie dough be the kind that you use in the middle of the cupcake? or do you recommend something different? thanks!
Jessiker says
Uh, delicious! I wanted something fun for kids and used this! That eggless cookie dough…omg its nice without the chocolate chips, BUT WITH THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!! Amazing!!
Anonymous says
i just made them! amazing!!!!
thanks… and i’m seriously addicted to your blog…. its like food porn!
GrammaRocks says
This is absolutely what I was looking for! I’m baking cupcakes for my granddaughter’s 9th birthday, and she doesn’t care much for cake, but LOVES sugar cookies! thanks so much<3
Anonymous says
This was a great recipe! i did my own variation by not putting in the cookie dough in the batter, only added choc. chips instead. so yummy!
Angela says
These are so yummy!! I was looking for a new cupcake recipe for my kids when they did something special! These fit the bill, they LOVED them….I did too!
Thanks,
Angi
Sam says
Hi! I used your cookie dough filling recipe in my cupcakes and it was perfect. Thanks for sharing!
http://www.creativecompassionatehappy.com/2016/09/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-filled.html