Cookie Dough Cupcakes

I had a housewarming to attend this past weekend so I wanted to make something eye-catching that would be a big crowd pleaser. I figured I couldn't go wrong with cookie dough! Who doesn't love cookie dough? So I searched Pinterest and stumbled upon this recipe that had really great reviews from a website called Tidy Mom and figured I'd give it a try.

These cupcakes have a lovely base that's reminiscent of a cookie flavor in cupcake form, then they are filled with edible (egg-less) cookie dough, and topped with a creamy cookie dough buttercream frosting. YUM!

If you're a beginner baker, I suggest reading the instructions very carefully and reading some of the tips I'm about to share with you. There are a lot of steps so just be sure you're following along! These were also quite a bit of work to make, so I divided up the work into two days. The first day I baked the cupcakes and edible cookie dough and filled them. The second day I made the buttercream and frosted and decorated them. It was much easier this way, in my opinion!

These turned out freaking fantastic! My husband hardly ever eats sweet and he wolfed down about four of them the same day I made them. At the party, I brought the whole batch (minus the four my husband ate) and they were GONE, people were doing that head nodding thing that you do when you eat something really good. People were also eating much more than one, so SUCCESS! They were a hit! The cupcake itself is light and has great flavor, the filling is the perfect bite of cookie dough, and the buttercream is fluffy and compliments the other components very well.

Baking Tips:

1. Maybe make them over the course of two days to lighten the workload, unless you carve out a decent chunk of time to bake them all in one day.

2 If you want to add cookies as a garnish as I did and as the recipe shows, make sure you either buy cookies or bake them beforehand! The recipe doesn't include this in the ingredient list and I had to run back out to my local bakery to buy some (I didn't have time to bake any).

3. Use the large end of a piping/decorating tip to core out the centers to fill them, unless you have a corer on hand. You could also carefully use a knife if necessary I suppose.

4. To fill them, I simply rolled the cookie dough into a thick tube-like shape before packing them into the center of the cupcake.

5. Add a little extra salt to the buttercream if you don't want it to be overly sweet.

6. If you have concerns about raw (uncooked) flour in the frosting, you can cook the flour before making the frosting. Spread the flour onto a baking sheet in an even layer and place in a 350° F oven for 5-7 minutes (watch closely so it doesn't burn). Allow to cool completely before using in the recipe.

Give it a try! Original recipe link here, or watch me make it on TikTok, or check it out below:

Ingredients

FOR CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH CUPCAKES:

• 1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1½ cups packed light brown sugar

• 4 large eggs

• 2⅔ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup milk

• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)

• Cookies - minis or cut in pieces (store bought or homemade) for garnish, if desired

FOR COOKIE DOUGH FILLING:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• ¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

FOR COOKIE DOUGH FROSTING:

• 1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar

• 3½ cups powdered sugar

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (*see notes for cooked flour)

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• 3 tablespoons milk

• 2½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.

2. Using the paddle attachment on an electric mixer, combine the butter and brown sugar. Cream together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, approx 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl.

3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

4. Alternating add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl with the milk on low speed, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated.

5. Blend in the vanilla.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

7. Divide the batter evenly between 24 cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes bake and cool, prepare cookie dough filling.

Cookie Dough Filling:

1. Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl on medium-high speed until light and fluffy(approx2 minutes).

2. Add flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla and beat until smooth.

3. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, (at least 30 minutes).

5. After cupcakes have cooled, fill the cupcakes by cutting a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with chilled cookie dough mixture.

Cookie Dough Frosting:

1. Beat butter and brown sugar with the paddle attachment on high speed until creamy and fluffy.

2. Mix in the powdered sugar until smooth.

3. Beat in the flour and salt.

4. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.

5. Frost cupcakes (you can use a pastry bag and 1M tip). Decorate with mini chocolate chips and a mini cookie.