Cookie Dough Cupcakes

It appears to be a bit of a right of passage for a baking blog to feature a cookie dough cupcake recipe. I've staked a number of them on pinterest, (like this one and this one and this one), and they came in two varieties-- the kind that stuff with dough post-baking and the kind that freeze the dough and bake it inside. I opted to go the route of freezing the dough, so that it really goes in the middle and so that you can get a little in every bite. Consequently, I also went about deciding how to make my favorite cookie dough egg-less, as the dough stays doughy and I have no desire to send anyone into the grips of Salmonella, or any other brand of food poisoning. This post by The Girl Who Ate Everything gave me the idea to substitute the egg with sweetened condensed milk, which worked perfectly. I combined my newly egg-less dough with my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe, doctored up a little vanilla butter-cream to hold a more cookie-like flavor, and DONE. They are delicious.

You'll notice that this vanilla cupcake recipe is the same one I've used as a base for a lot of recipes. I like it because it is consistent and easy. I have a few other recipes I'll bust out for you at another time, but I specifically chose this one for these cupcakes because the batter is thick. It's the same one I use as the base for my cupcakes with Oreos baked inside. You need a thick batter when you want something to bake in the middle-- this helps prevent the stuff in the middle from sinking to the bottom.

Chocolate Fluffernutter Cupcakes

 I needed something REALLY awesome to celebrate the amazing Erin completing her first half marathon, so I came up with these. They are chocolate cupcakes, filled with marshmallow fluff, and topped with peanut butter icing. Need I say more?? I used the chocolate cake recipe my mom used for birthdays and special occasions when I was a kid, which is not only delicious, but easy to make.

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here)
Chocolate Celebration Cake (Yield 2, 9" layers or 24 standard cupcakes)


2 eggs
2/3 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 1 cup water
1 cup sour milk*

*Sour milk can be made by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice per cup of milk. Stir well and allow to sit for a few minutes before adding to the batter.

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

These cupcakes have an Oreo inside of them. How can you NOT want to make these???

OK, wait, let me back up. This started when we decided to revive birthdays at work. I've been at my job a year and a half and we have not been celebrating birthdays.  That's dumb. We decided to change that. As in, we decided to change that the day before a coworkers birthday, and the same day an AT&T technician was *supposed* to come fix my home internet. (He never showed, FYI.......) ANYWAY-- On the drive home, I mentioned to my carpool buddy that, if the AT&T guy showed up in a timely manner, I'd run to the store and get Oreos and make cupcakes with Oreos inside. The conversation went like this:

Carpool buddy: You'll do what?

Me: Make cupcakes. With Oreos inside.

Carpool buddy: Like, it stays in there-- in the middle-- like a cookie.

Me: Yes. Just like that.

Carpool buddy: (Wide eyed, as to indicated mind has been BLOWN) WE MUST GET YOU OREOS!!! There is a store up there by that red light. I'm getting out.

Me: Dude, you can't do that.

Carpool buddy: Yes I can!!!!

And, in fact, she did. She totally jumped out at the red light, ran in the store, and came out with Oreos. So, really, this whole post is owed to her ability to swiftly hop out of my car, buy Oreos, and jump back in during the length of a red light.