Cookie Dough Surprise

Pinterest is one of my favorite places to find recipe ideas.  I can spend hours looking for just the right combination of delicious and adventure to try.  A couple of weeks ago I happened upon this recipe. 

Here is my spin on: Cookie Dough Surprise!!

I will warn you at the start that this recipe is pretty much an all day project.  Although, when I make these again I will do the cookie dough balls the night before and pop them in the freezer to speed things up.

Step One: Cookie Dough Balls (Double Batch)

Begin this recipe with the assembling of the cookie dough balls, which are pretty much chocolate chip cookies without any eggs.   

You will need:
1 1/2 cups - Flour
1/4 teaspoon - Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon - Salt
8 tablespoons - Unsalted Butter, melted
1/2 cup - Brown Sugar, packed
4 tablespoons - White Sugar
4 tablespoons - Milk
2 teaspoons - Vanilla Extract
1 cup - Mini Chocolate Chips

Begin with creaming the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large measuring cup.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix until smooth. 

Stir in the chocolate chips.  The dough will be quite soft.

Form the dough into approximately 24 balls.  Freeze the dough balls for at least 30 minutes.

 

 

Step Two: Chocolate Cupcakes (Double Batch)

You will need:
2 cups - Flour
1 cup - Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 small box - Instant Chocolate Pudding
1 1/4 cups - White Sugar
3/4 cup - Brown Sugar, packed
1 teaspoon - Baking Soda
2 teaspoons  - Cappuccino Powder
1 cup - Hot Water
1/2 cup - Milk
1 cup - Canola/Vegetable Oil
2 - Eggs
4 teaspoons - Vanilla Extract

For some reason, I did not take many pictures of the mixing process for the cupcakes.  The good thing is the mixing process for these cupcakes is very simple.  Begin by mixing the flour, cocoa powder, chocolate pudding, white sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt until combined in a mixing bowl.  Add the water, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Beat well until fully combined.

Fill a cupcake pan lined with paper liners 1/2 full.  Place one frozen cookie dough ball in each cupcake pressing the cookie dough down until half submerged by the cake batter.  Bake the cupcakes 19-21 minutes at 375 degrees F.  Test for doneness by using a tooth pick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake and not the cookie dough.  The cakes are done with the toothpick comes out clean!  

Cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack before frosting.





Step Three: Cookie Dough Buttercream Frosting (Single Batch)

 

Apparently I was loosing my touch again with the frosting because I forgot to take many pictures.  At any rate, here are the instructions with what little pictures I have.

 

You will need:

12 tablespoons - Unsalted Butter

1 3/4 cups - Powdered Sugar

1/3 cup - Brown Sugar, packed

1/2 cup - Flour

1 1/2 tablespoons - Milk

1 teaspoon - Vanilla

1/2 cup - Mini Chocolate Chips

 

Begin by creaming the butter, powdered sugar, and brown sugar until smooth and creamy.

 

 

 

Add in the flour and vanilla and beat until fully combined.  Add in the milk and beat on high until fluffy.  To obtain the desired consistency you can add in extra milk 1 tablespoon at a time beating on high between each addition.

 

 

If you are going to frost your cupcakes with a spatula, you can mix the chocolate chips into the frosting.  If you plan to pipe your frosting on to the cupcakes, leave the chocolate chips out of the frosting and use them as a decoration after you have piped the frosting on to each cake.  I learned the hard way that the frosting will not come out of the pastry bag smoothly if you have added in the chocolate chips! 

 

After you have frosted the cupcake, top with a mini chocolate chip cookie.  Chips Ahoy Minis work wonderfully!! 

 

 

When I made these cupcakes, I doubled the batch for each of the three parts.  I would advise that if you are going to frost your cupcakes with a spatula then you only need a single batch of the frosting even if you do a double batch of the cupcakes.  If you are planning to pipe the frosting on the cupcakes, then I would do a double batch of the frosting as well.

 

I used these cupcakes for the graduation party for the foster children at my work and they were a hit!  I would suggest attempting them anytime you want to be the talk of the pot luck!

 

Go ahead, give it a shot!!

 

Jamie Rae 

 

Classic Chocolate Cupcakes

I have been practicing my "scratch" cake recipes and decided to try CHOCOLATE!!!  The recipe I adapted is found here, however I started mine with a basic doubling of the recipe.

Here I am introducing: Classic Chocolate Cupcakes

The dry ingredients:


2 cups - All Purpose Flour
2 cups - Granulated Sugar
1 cup - Cocoa Powder
2/3 cup - Chocolate Instant Pudding Powder
2 teaspoons - Baking Powder
1 teaspoon - Baking Soda
1 teaspoon - Salt
2 teaspoons - Cappuccino Powder



Combine all dry ingredients in the basin of a mixing bowl and thoroughly combine.

The wet ingredients:


1 cup - Milk
1/2 cup - Vegetable Oil
1 teaspoon - Vanilla Extract
3 - Eggs
1 cup - Boiling Water

 

Combine the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and eggs together in a measuring cup.  Slowing add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium to fully combine.  The batter will be quite thick.

Reduce the speed to low and Slowly add in the boiling water.  Once the water is incorporated into the batter, mix one high for 1 minutes to add air to the batter,

 

Distribute the batter into a cupcake pan lined with paper liners.  Each liner should be 2/3 to 3/4 full.  Bake the cakes at 325 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

 

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

 

I frosted these cupcakes with a store bought Betty Crocker Hershey's S'mores frosting.  I was very impressed with the flavor of the frosting and thought it paired well with the cake.  I did not like the graham cracker topping that came with the frosting, so I used a package of Oreo mix ins that came with Jello pudding snack.  I encourage you to be creative and use what you have on hand!!

 

As always, have fun and enjoy!

 

Jamie Rae

Seasonal Zucchini Bread

For all of you who have noticed my severe lack of blogging, I have good news!  I'm back and I have three posts to add that have accumulated over the last month or so since the tablet took a tumble. 

To kick things off we will get started with a classic spin on zucchini bread which I have called Seasonal Zucchini Bread.  The recipe I adapted for this recipe was found here.

This creation comes together with:
3 cups - All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon - Salt
1 teaspoon - Baking Powder
1 teaspoon - Baking Soda
3 teaspoons - Cinnamon
3 - Eggs
1/2 cup - Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup - Unsweetened Applesauce
1 1/4 cup - White Sugar
1 cup - Brown Sugar
 teaspoons - Vanilla Extract
2 cups - Grated Zucchini
1 cup - Raisins

I began this recipe by grating the zucchini.  I was not thinking when I started the recipe and forgot to take any pictures, but the grating is pretty simple.  I used a hand grater and with a little elbow grease it was done in no time!!

Begin the batter by combining the dry ingredients.  I do this in a large 4 cup measuring cup.  I measure the flour first and then add in the other dry ingredients so that I have one less bowl to clean in the end.   

Next add the eggs, oil, applesauce, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla into the basin of a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly.

Add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients.  I added them in four parts and combined completely.  

Stir in the zucchini and the raisins. 

Evenly divide the batter among your baking pans.  I chose to do a larger pan and a smaller pan for variety.  

 

 

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 60 minutes.  My loaves took 55 to 60 minutes.  Keep in mind that the baking time will vary depending on the size of the loaves.  Remove the loaves once a toothpick inserted into the center comes out nearly clean.  Allow the loaves to cool  in the pan for 20 minutes.  Remove from the pan and allow the loaf to cool completely before slicing. 

 

Unfortunately, I slipped and did not take a picture of the finished product!!  At any rate, the bread was great and everyone should try it!!

 

Until next time, 

 

Jamie Rae