Dulce de Leche filled Mocha Cupcakes

January 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment

 

Dulce de Leche filled Mocha Cupcakes by JavaCupcake.com

 

I’m super excited to be a part of a blog that I’ve been reading for 4+ years, Coffee Cup News! CCN has invited me to be an author, sharing my recipes for decadent and delicious coffee desserts and yummies!

For my first post, I’ve made the most amazing mocha cupcake and it’s filled with dulce de leche and topped with a mocha whipped cream.  It’s just like having your favorite caramel mocha from Starbucks… but in a cupcake!

So if you love coffee, visit Coffee Cup News, tell them Betsy sent you and enjoy the coffee!

PS… the FULL RECIPE for this cupcake can be found HERE!

 

Filed Under: chocolate cupcakes, Coffee, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, dulce de leche, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, guest blogger, recipes, whipped cream frosting, whipping cream

Chocolate Nutter Butter Cupcakes

September 21, 2012 by 7 Comments

I wasn’t going to write up a blog post for these cupcakes, but they came out really awesome looking, so here it is.  I had a request for my Tagalong Cucpakes, which was easy enough… but because Girl Scout cookies aren’t exactly in season right now, I wanted to top the cupcakes with another cookie, equally as delicious as a Tagalong.  I thought that Keebler made a cookie that was similar to the Tagalong, but of course the commissary here in Germany didn’t sell them.   So while paroozing the cookie isle at the store, I came across the Nutter Butters and thought they would be perfect!

I decided to jazz them up a bit (Wait, how old am I? Did I just say “jazz them up?” hahaha) by dipping them in chocolate and nuts.  I thought that made for a very dramatic effect on the top of these cupcakes!

I used the same recipe for the Nutter Butter cupcakes that I used for the Tagalong cupcakes… so you can find that recipe HERE.  I did make a few changes though…

  • I used 1 1/2 sticks of butter in the chocolate buttercream instead of just 1 stick.
  • I used Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate cocoa powder in the buttercream instead of regular chocolate and cut it back to about 1/2 a cup.
  • Not only did I fill all the cupcakes, but I piped a layer of peanut butter on top of every cupcake before frosting with the chocolate buttercream.
  • Topped each cupcake with a Nutter Butter cookie dipped in melted chocolate and chopped nuts.

Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate frosting, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, peanut butter, peanut butter frosting, recipes

Chocolate Cupcakes with Biscoff Milka Cream Cheese Frosting

September 5, 2012 by 20 Comments

Ok.  I’ll have to admit.  Before today I had never tasted a Biscoff cookie.  I’d seem them at the German restaurants and in the stores but had never tasted one.  To be honest, I didn’t even really know what flavor to even expect.  But today, once I actually tried one I realized what the obsession with Biscoff is.  Caramel.   Yup.  These cookies taste like caramel!!  NO WONDER!

I looked all over the internet for someone else who had made a Biscoff cupcake and I really wasn’t impressed with what I had found.  None incorporated the cookie into the batter, just the spread and none of them had the appearance I was looking to achieve.  So, I set out to make a recipe of my own.

Peanut butter is a lot like Biscoff spread in texture and consistency, so I researched peanut butter cake recipes.  I found this recipe for Peanut Butter Cake by Paula Deen that called for crushed graham crackers in the cake and thought that could be easily substituted for crushed Biscoff cookies and the peanut.  So I made it the batter, altered the sugar to include some brown sugar, substituted Biscoff for the peanut butter and crushed Biscoff cookies for the graham crackers.  The recipe FAILED miserably.  I think there was too much leavening (baking powder) in this recipe and the cupcakes all sank like the Titanic.

I seriously hate it when recipes fail.  I mean REALLY hate it.  It feels like such a waste of ingredients and like I should of known better or something.  Seems like lately I’ve just had too many epic fails with recipes.  (Most of those I don’t even mention on the blog or Facebook, btw.)

Well… I had about 2/3 cup of Biscoff spread left and decided to try again, but this time I’d make my chocolate cupcakes and top it with Biscoff buttercream.  I bought Milka chocolate cream cheese at the German store and thought that’d pair well with the Biscoff in the buttercream.  Damn.  This buttercream is so good…  definitely glad I decided to go with the chocolate cake though…. pairs perfectly with it!!

I created cute little tags and attached them to these cups with some ribbon and gave a cupcake to each of Emily’s 7th grade teachers at her Open House last night.  They were all very shocked and surprised and loved them!! I’m pretty sure that Emily’s teachers will be getting treats from me until she graduates from college!!

Print
Chocolate Cupcakes with Biscoff Milka Cream Cheese Frosting

Yield: At least 12 cupcakes

Decadent chocolate cake topped with a smooth frosting bursting with Biscoff flavor!

Ingredients

    Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder (optional)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 3/4 cup hot water
    • Biscoff Milka Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 1 package Philadelphia Cream Cheese with Milka
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup Biscoff spread
  • 1lb powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 Tbsp heavy cream
  • crushed Biscoff cookies (for garnish)

Instructions

    Chocolate Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with 12 liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, egg and vanilla.
  4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the oil mixture. Whisk until you can't anymore.
  5. Add the hot water and whisk until smooth.
  6. Fill liners 2/3 full with batter. Bake about 16-18 minutes or until a toothpic comes out clean.
  7. Cool completely before frosting.
    8. Biscoff Milka Cream Cheese Frosting
  8. Cream together the cream cheese, butter and Biscoff spread. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  9. Add the sugar, vanilla and heavy cream. Mix until combined and crape the sides of the bowl again.
  10. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
  11. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto each cupcake and rim the sides with crushed cookies.
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Filed Under: Biscoff, Biscoff buttercream, caramel cupcakes, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, recipes

Death by Oreo Cupcakes

August 30, 2012 by 12 Comments

If you love Oreos, then you will LOVE these cupcakes.  With an Oreo baked into the bottom of each cupcake, Oreo cookies folded into the cake batter as well as the buttercream and an Oreo on top… these cupcakes are sure to satisfy any Oreo craving!

I used my favorite vanilla cake batter for the base of the cupcake then just added Oreos until I couldn’t see straight!

I brought about 50 of these Death by Oreo cupcakes to my husband’s work softball game and BBQ and they were gone within 10 minutes.  Actually, I think it was closer to 5 minutes.  People were taking them by the hand fulls.  I think when a soldier sees an Oreo, it’s like a switch in his head goes off and he becomes a glutton!

Print
Death by Oreo Cupcakes

Yield: 3+ dozen cupcakes

If you love Oreos... you'll love these cupcakes!

Ingredients

    Oreo Cupcakes
  • 2 packages Oreo cookies
  • Vanilla cupcake batter using THIS recipe, doubled.
  • NOTE: You can use regular cream/milk, sugar and vanilla extract for this recipe. Don't worry about having to use all the fancy Madagascar vanilla bean stuff.
    • Oreo Buttercream
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
  • 2 lbs powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 sleeve of Oreo cookies
  • 1 bag of Mini Oreo cookies - for garnish

Instructions

    Oreo Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners and place a whole Oreo at the bottom of each liner.
  2. Prepare the vanilla cupcake batter as described in the directions above.
  3. Crush into chunks about 25 Oreo cookies. Fold this into the batter.
  4. Scoop batter into cups at least 3/4 full.
  5. Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Cool in pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
    7. Oreo Buttercream
  7. Cream butter until smooth using an electric stand mixer.
  8. Add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. If it becomes too difficult to make smooth, add a Tbsp of cream at a time to loosen it up.
  9. Mix in the vanilla and salt.
  10. Add more cream until you get a smooth or spreadable consistency. Beat on high for about 5 minutes.
  11. Using a food processor, blend the remaining whole Oreo cookies until no chunks remain. Add this to the buttercream and mix until combined.
  12. Top each cupcake with frosting and garnish with a Mini Oreo.
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Filed Under: cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, filled cupcakes, Oreo, recipes

Peanut Butter & M&M Cookie Dough Filled Cupcakes

August 7, 2012 by 5 Comments

Today’s a big day in my little world.  My husband joined a squadron unit last week and tonight is the first FRG meeting for me with his new troop.   If none of that makes sense to you… don’t worry…. I’ll explain.

My husband is in the Army and got moved to a new unit.  Each unit has an FRG or Family Readiness Group which help to create a community among the spouses and families as well as provide important information about training, community events, and deployments.  I’ve always been the FRG Leader in the unit my husband has been in… so this will be a bit of an adjustment for me, not being in charge.  Tonight is the first meeting and I thought I’d make a good impression and bring cupcakes.

(Side note:  I was not in the mood to set up and take fancy photos of these cupcakes… just didn’t have time after I made them, honestly! Had to get to the meeting!  So… you get camera phone/Instagram pictures!)

I’ve made cupcakes similar to these before, so I had a pretty good idea how to make them.  They turned out pretty good… next time though I think I’ll use a cake recipe that’s a little denser… this cake is pretty light and the frosting and cookie dough ball are a bit heavy in comparison.  Cake doesn’t quite hold up to them.  BUT… it’s still darn delicious!

They’re chocolate cake with a peanut butter m&m cookie ball baked inside…. topped with peanut butter cookie dough frosting and more m&m’s.

VERY RICH!  You need a HUGE glass of milk with these cupcakes!

I’m bringing 2 dozen of these cupcakes to the FRG meeting with me tonight.  I hope the ladies enjoy them!!!

Wish me luck!

Print
Peanut Butter & M&M Cookie Dough Filled Cupcakes

51

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

    Cookie Dough Balls
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 1/2 tsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup M&M candies
    • Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar, NOT packed
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1 Tbsp espresso powder (optional)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
    • Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Frosting
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 lb powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream
  • M&M candies to garnish

Instructions

    Cookie Dough Balls
  1. Cream together the butter and sugars.
  2. Beat in the milk and vanilla until combined.
  3. Add the flour and mix until combined.
  4. Fold in the M&Ms.
  5. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet.
  6. Freeze at least an hour or until ready to use in cupcakes.
    7. Chocolate Cupcakes
  7. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
  8. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  9. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the oil, sugars, eggs, vanilla and sour cream until smooth.
  10. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk. Begin and end with the flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix only until combined.
  11. Fill cupcake liners HALF full and push a cookie dough ball into the batter to the bottom of each cup.
  12. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  13. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
    14. Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Frosting
  14. Cream together the peanut butter and butter.
  15. Add the brown sugar and beat until smooth.
  16. Mix in the flour and vanilla until incorporated.
  17. Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined. NOTE: It will be VERY thick at this point and your mixer may not like you very much. hehe
  18. Add the cream until you reach your desired consistency. I used almost 200ml of cream (about 3/4 cup) and it was a thick, moist mixture, just like dough!
  19. Using a large round tip, pipe a dollop of frosting onto each cupcake. Garnish with three M&M candies.
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Filed Under: buttercream, candy cupcakes, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cookie dough frosting, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, featured, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, M&Ms, peanut butter, peanut butter cupcakes, peanut butter frosting, recipes

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes

July 20, 2012 by 5 Comments

Don’t let these cupcakes fool you.  Yes, that may look like a perfect peanut butter cookie on top of this cupcake… but, it’s not!  It’s frosting!  Can you believe it?  (A big shoutout to Annie’s Eats for inspiring me to make my own version of this cupcake after she posted hers!)

When I made my Dark Chocolate Raspberry Curd cupcakes, I saved about a dozen chocolate cupcakes aside so I could turn them into these beauties.  I spread a whipped dark chocolate ganache on top of each cupcake and then placed a peanut butter cookie on top.  The cookie is actually a scoop of peanut butter frosting formed into a ball, pressed down and embellished with the traditional fork stamping of a peanut butter cookie!  Genius, right?!

My husband doesn’t typically enjoy anything I make with peanut butter, but he ate the entire cookie frosting off this cupcake and left the rest. He said it tasted like peanut butter fudge, which he absolutely loves.

I tasted all the ingredients separately and really, this is one cupcake that all three parts really taste better…. together.  Don’t get me wrong, the cupcake is awesome, the dark chocolate ganache is yummy and the peanut butter cookie frosting is heaven… but all together in one bite….. OUT OF THIS WORLD!

Print
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes

41

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

    Dark Chocolate Cake
  • I used a dozen cupcakes from this recipe.
    • Dark Chocolate Ganache
  • 9oz 100% cacao dark chocolate (or the darkest you can find)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream (you might need more.... the darker the chocolate, the more cream you'll need)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
    • Peanut Butter Cookie Frosting
  • 9 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1½ cups peanut butter
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1-2 Tbsp heavy cream
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

    Dark Chocolate Cake
  1. Follow the directions to make the cake in the recipe here
    2. Dark Chocolate Ganache
  2. Chop chocolate into very small pieces and place in the bottom of a glass bowl.
  3. Heat the heavy cream until just boiling/bubbling.
  4. Pour hot cream over the chocolate and let it set for 3-4 minutes without touching or stirring it.
  5. Using a spatula, stir the chocolate and cream together until smooth.
  6. Stir in the butter and vanilla.
  7. If the ganache isn't as smooth as you'd like it... add more warmed cream to the mixture and continue to stir until you get your desired consistency. NOTE: The consistency you're looking for a a smooth, yet thick, spreadable consistency.
  8. Use a wire whisk to whip up the ganache until it's fluffed up a bit. YUM!
  9. Spread a 1/4 inch layer of ganache over each cooled cupcake.
    10. Peanut Butter Cookie Frosting
  10. Cream together the peanut butter and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.
  11. Add the powdered sugar and mix until incorporated. NOTE: The frosting will be very thick.
  12. Add a 1-2 Tbsp of heavy cream to loosen up the mixture and make it a little smoother. NOTE: You still want the frosting to be thick, so don't add too much cream.
  13. Mix in a pinch of salt to cut back on the sweetness of the sugar. You want the frosting to be full of peanut butter flavor!
  14. Roll a generous tablespoon of dough into a ball and press flat with your hands. Using a fork, press the traditional peanut butter cookie lines into the cookies.
  15. Place a frosting cookie on top of each ganache covered cupcake.
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Filed Under: chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, featured, frosting and icing, ganache, peanut butter, peanut butter frosting, recipes

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

April 23, 2012 by 44 Comments

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve actually baked a cupcake.  Weeks… probably more like months.  I’ve baked cookies, scones and crescent rolls, but no cupcakes!  Crazy, huh?  Cause this is supposed to be a cupcake blog, right?

Hmmm… So yeah.  I made cupcakes today.  And, I didn’t start back into baking cupcakes slowly.  No, I didn’t ease into things.  I went BIG!

Chocolate cupcake + Cookie Dough = HOLY GOODNESS!!!

Baked inside this cupcake is a chocolate chip cookie dough ball.  Yah, you read me right.  Cookie Dough.  The best thing that God ever created inside this cupcake.

And to make things even better…. the frosting.  Cookie Dough.   Both my hubby and my neighbor told me I needed to just make this frosting.  A big giant bowl of it so they could take a spoon and scoop it out and shove it in their mouth.  It’s that good.

Personally, I found the bottom of the cupcake to be the best.   But hey, everyone has their preferences.

Print
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

51

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Ingredients

    Cookie Dough Filling:
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
    • Chocolate Cupcakes:
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder (optional)
  • 3/4 cup hot water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • Cookie Dough Frosting:
  • 12 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Decorate:
  • additional mini chocolate chips
  • 12 mini chocolate chip cookies (I used Chips Ahoy)

Instructions

    Cookie Dough Filling:
  1. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, milk and vanilla until smooth.
  3. Whisk in the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips until smooth.
  4. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes or until firm.
  5. Scoop out dough into 12 balls. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.
    6. Chocolate Cupcakes:
  6. Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.
  7. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt.
  8. Add the water, oil, egg and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are combined.
  9. Fill each cupcake liner 1/2-2/3 full. NOTE: You may have extra batter... no worries, make extra cupcakes!
  10. Gently press a cookie dough ball into the center of each cupcake, only submerging the ball 1/2 way.
  11. Bake the cupcakes for 19-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake portion of the cupcake (not tested through the center where the dough is), comes out fairly dry. Chunks/pieces of cake are okay, just not moist batter.
  12. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.
    13. Cookie Dough Frosting:
  13. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.
  14. Add the flour, milk and vanilla and beat on high until well combined.
    15. To Assemble:
  15. Pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake.
  16. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top and garnish with a mini chocolate chip cookie.

Notes

Source: cupcakes & frosting slightly adapted from RecipeGirl

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Filed Under: brown sugar, cake batter, chocolate, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cooking icing, cupcake recipes, featured, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, recipes, top posts sidebar

Rainbow Funfetti Birthday Cake Oreo Cupcakes

March 19, 2012 by 5 Comments

Being out here in Germany has its disadvantages.  As a baker, the lack of access to seasonal and special products that my favorite companies make is a huge disadvantage.  So when Oreo celebrated it’s 100th birthday with special confetti cake flavored Oreos I BEGGED my friends back home to send me some.  Luckily, one fantastic friend (CARRIE!) sent me TWO packages of these special cookies!

When I first opened the bag, I noticed the smell… they were different from the regular Oreos.  Then, I tasted them.  OH EM GEE.  They taste like birthday cake!  Those Oreo people are GENIUS!

So, into my cupcakes these cookies went.  I made a basic vanilla cupcake batter, added a birthday Oreo to the bottom of each cupcake and filled the batter with funfetti rainbow sprinkles.  I then topped the cupcake with a basic vanilla cream cheese buttercream topped with more funfetti rainbow sprinkles and a birthday Oreo!

Simple.  Cute.  Delicious.

Print
Rainbow Funfetti Birthday Cake Oreo Cupcakes

41

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Happy Birthday to Oreo!

Ingredients

    Rainbow Funfetti Cupcakes
  • 2 egg whites, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup milk, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla

  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup rainbow jimmies

  • 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, soft/room temperature

  • 12 birthday Oreo cookies
    • Rainbow Cream Cheese Buttercream
  • 2oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 lb powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2-4 Tbsp heavy cream
  • pinch of salt
  • Wilton food color, gel - various colors
  • rainbow jimmies

Instructions

    Rainbow Funfetti Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. Separate egg whites and whisk together with milk and vanilla. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  4. Add the softened butter and half the milk mixture and mix on medium until combined.
  5. Pour in the remaining milk mixture and mix on high until combined, about 10-15 seconds. DO NOT OVER MIX! Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  6. Gently fold in the funfetti jimmies, 4-5 strokes.
  7. Place one Oreo at the bottom of each cupcake liner. Fill the liner 2/3 full with batter.
  8. Bake 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Allow to cool in pan for 4-5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
    10. Rainbow Cream Cheese Buttercream
  10. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  11. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time and mix on high until smooth.
  12. Add the vanilla and salt and mix until combined.
  13. Mix in 2 Tbsp of vanilla. Add more, if necessary, to get your desired consistency.
  14. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
  15. Separate buttercream into 4 small bowls. Add color and mix until combined.
    16. To make rainbow frosting:
  16. Prepare a large piping bag and a star tip.
  17. Spoon in a dollop of each color into the bag, pressing it against the side of the bag to make room for the other colors. Continue layering in the colors into the bag.
  18. Slowly press the frosting out of the star tip. Be careful not to press too hard, you don't want the colors to mix too much and come out brown.
    19. To Assemble:
  19. Pipe a swirl of rainbow frosting on top of each cooled cupcake.
  20. Garnish with rainbow jimmies and half a birthday Oreo.
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PS… I was in a hurry and didn’t bring my eggs and milk to room temperature and didn’t bake them quite long enough, so my cupcakes didn’t rise like I wanted them to.  :( Bummer.  Make sure yours are room temperature and be patient!!

Filed Under: buttercream, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cream cheese frosting, cupcake recipes, frosting and icing, funfetti and sprinkles, rainbow, recipes, vanilla cupcakes, vanilla frosting

Tagalong Cupcakes

January 28, 2012 by 6 Comments

I had surgery on Thursday… and I was SUPER nervous.  It’s nothing too serious, just having 3 teeth pulled that should have been fixed a long time ago.  But now, I’m 33 weeks pregnant and in TONS of pain and just can’t wait any longer to have them taken care of.

So… to keep my mind occupied the day before (and hopefully off the throbbing in my mouth), I decided to bake cupcakes!  Last week, I made Thin Mint Cupcakes with Girl Scout cookies so today I’m trying out a recipe for Tagalong Cupcakes made with my favorite peanut butter and chocolate GS cookie!

I asked on my Facebook page how exactly I should make this Tagalong cupcake and I really enjoyed the suggestion of one reader to make a thick crumb cake.  I’ve never actually tried to purposely make a cake with a big crumb and I thought this might be the perfect time to try that.  I did an internet search for thick crumb cake recipes and found lots of recipes for a New York Style Crumb Cake and I thought hmmm…. with a little tweaking, this could be pretty darn good as a cupcake!

And of course, the cupcake has to be filled with peanut butter… just like the cookie!  For this filling, I used a variation of my favorite peanut butter buttercream recipe, but made it more creamy and smooth than thick like a frosting.

Oh the frosting.  When you see a Tagalong cupcake…. you first see the dark chocolate covering the cookie.  It’s shiny and sometimes, I just bite the edges of the cookie off and eat just the chocolate part first.  So I knew this cookie had to have that same shine and color.  Creamy chocolate was a MUST!

New York Style Vanilla Bean Crumb Cake
Makes 12 cupcakes

Recipe updated: September 2012

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup vanilla sugar (regular sugar is okay too)
2 large eggs
seeds of one vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract (split bean length wise and scrape out seeds)
1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream (or milk)

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and vanilla sugar for about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the vanilla bean seeds egg, scrape the sides of the bowl, and beat on high for at least 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
  5. Mix in the sour cream, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
  6. Add the flour in two parts and mix just until smooth.
  7. Add the heavy cream and mix only until incorporated.  DO NOT OVER MIX!
  8. Scoop evenly into 12 cupcake liners.
  9. Bake 18-19 minutes, rotating pan after 12 minutes.
  10. Cool in pan 4-5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe inspired by: First Look, Then Cook

Whipped Peanut Butter Filling
Makes enough to fill & garnish 12 cupcakes 

2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp heavy cream

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, cream together the butter and peanut butter.
  2. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth.
  3. Scrape sides again, add the vanilla and heavy cream.  Whip on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting
Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 oz cream cheese
1 lb powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
  3. Add the sugar/cocoa to the butter mixture and beat until smooth.
  4. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix in the vanilla extract.
  5. Add up to 1/2 cup heavy cream or until you get the smooth consistency you want.
  6. Beat on high for 3 minutes.

To Assemble the Cupcakes:

6 Tagalong Girl Scout Cookies, halved
Whipped Peanut Butter Filling
Creamy Chocolate Frosting
Piping bags & tips

  1. Core the center of each cupcake using an apple corer.  I wanted to make sure these cupcakes had LOTS of peanut butter filling, so I cored them all the way down to the bottom liner.
  2. Using a small closed star tip, pipe the whipped peanut butter filling into each hole making sure a little bit peeps out the top.
  3. For half of the cupcakes, I stopped there with the peanut butter filling.  On the other half, I piped a small layer of the peanut butter filling on top of the cupcake as well.
  4. Using a Wilton 1M tip, pipe a beautiful pile of creamy chocolate frosting on top of each cupcake.
  5. With the remaining peanut butter filling, pipe a small dollop on top of the chocolate frosting on the cupcakes that are only filled in the middle.
  6. Garnish with half a Tagalong Girl Scout Cookie.
  7. EAT!
Filed Under: buttercream, chocolate, chocolate frosting, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cupcake recipes, dark chocolate, frosting and icing, girl scout cookie cupcakes, recipes, vanilla, vanilla cupcakes

Thin Mint Cupcakes

January 25, 2012 by 26 Comments

It’s totally that time of year… GIRL SCOUT COOKIE TIME!

I can’t resist.  I bought 10 boxes.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  10 boxes.

2 to eat (with in the first 24  hours).

8 to bake with.

Yeah… you read that correctly.  8 boxes to bake with.

Last year I made Samoa Cupcakes and Tagalong Brownies.  This year… I started with Thin Mint Cupcakes.  These cupcakes are a super decadent chocolate cake filled with a whipped chocolate ganache topped with a mint buttercream.  Serious amounts of NOM NOM NOM.

PS…. This is my new favorite chocolate cake recipe.  I know it’s got beer in it… but I’m totally using it for every chocolate cake I make from now on!!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes

1 bottle of Guinness Stout Beer
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pans with liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter on medium-high heat.  Add the vanilla beer, whisk together and heat until it just begins to simmer.  Whisk in the cocoa powder and espresso powder and heat until it just begins to bubble up.  DO NOT BOIL.  Remove from heat and whisk until smooth.   Cool slightly.
  4. In the meantime, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sour cream.  Slowly pour in the slightly cooled chocolate mixture. NOTE:  DO THIS SLOW! You don’t want to cook the eggs, so start pouring a very small amount of the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture… DO NOT DUMP IT IN ALL AT ONCE.
  5. In three parts, add the flour mixture to the chocolate/egg mixture.  Whisk until smooth.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, making sure everything is incorporated.
  6. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter.
  7. Bake 18-20 minutes, rotating pan after 12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  8. Cool in pan for 3-4 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.

Whipped Chocolate Ganache

4 oz dark chocolate, chopped

1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp corn syrup

1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

  1. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium glass bowl.
  2. In a small sauce pan, heat the heavy cream and corn syrup just until it bubbles.
  3. Pour heavy cream over chocolate and stir until smooth.  If the chocolate doesn’t melt all the way, place the bowl over a double boiler and continue to stir until smooth.
  4. Mix in the butter and extract.
  5. Allow ganache to cool to room temperature.
  6. Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the cooled ganache until fluffy.  Don’t over mix or it will get grainy.

Vanilla Bean Peppermint Buttercream

12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
2 lbs powdered sugar
1/2 cup Madagascar Vanilla Bean Cream
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
pinch of salt
Wilton Green Food Gel

  1.  Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
  2. Add half the powdered sugar and mix on high until incorporated and smooth.
  3. Beat in half the vanilla bean cream until smooth.  Scrape the sides of the bowl, making sure all the sugar is combined.
  4. Add the remaining sugar and the peppermint extract.
  5. Mix in the food gel until it’s the color you desire.
  6. Add remaining vanilla bean cream until you get the consistency you want.  Mix on high 3-4 minutes until smooth and fluffy.

To Assemble Cupcakes:

Thin Mint Cookies
Peppermint Buttercream
Chocolate Shavings
Piping bag & large round tip
Apple corer

  1. Core each cupcake using the apple corer.
  2. Fill each cupcake with whipped ganache.  (I filled a disposable piping bag, cut off the top and filled each one with that.)
  3. Using a large round tip and a piping  bag, pipe a round swirl of buttercream on to each cupcake.
  4. Top with a Thin Mint cookie and chocolate shavings.
  5. EAT! ENJOY!

And this is what you do when you have left over peppermint buttercream.  NOM NOM NOM

Filed Under: buttercream, buttercream, chocolate, chocolate cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cookie cupcakes, cream cheese, cupcake recipes, filled cupcakes, frosting and icing, ganache, ganache, girl scout cookie cupcakes, Madagascar vanilla beans, mint cupcakes, peppermint, peppermint and mint, recipes, top posts sidebar, whipped cream, whipping cream

Double Doodle & Mini Doodle Cupcakes

June 24, 2011 by 2 Comments

If you love Snickerdoodles, then these cupcakes are the ultimate in Snickerdoodle.  These “Double Doodle” cupcakes are packed full of cinnamon, sugar and flavor! Sure to be a crowd pleaser at any party! [Read more...]

Filed Under: buttercream, cinnamon, cinnamon buttercream or frosting, cookie cupcakes, cookies, cupcake recipes, frosting and icing, recipes, Snickerdoodle Week

Oreo Cupcakes

May 2, 2011 by 16 Comments

Everyone loves an Oreo!  Or at least, I think everyone does.  If you don’t, I’m not sure that we can be friends!? Lol, they’re fun & tasty and milk’s best friend, right??

[Read more...]

Filed Under: cookie cupcakes, cream cheese, cream cheese frosting, cupcake recipes, frosting and icing, posts by jenn, recipes, top posts sidebar

Samoa Cupcakes

April 27, 2011 by 33 Comments

Several weeks ago I ordered many many boxes of Girl Scout cookies from my beautiful niece, Ashley.  Well… I’ve been holding on to those cookies until I had enough time to create the cupcake made from one of the most popular GS cookies, the Samoa.  And you know what… I think I’ve done it.    [Read more...]

Filed Under: caramel, coconut, cookie cupcakes, cookies, cupcake recipes, featured, girl scout cookie cupcakes, recipes, top posts sidebar