Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Behold. The chocolate-chip cookie dough cupcake. Commonly known as the Ecstasy cupcake. In fact, if you look up the word Ecstasy in the dictionary, the entry reads, "also see chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake." So, in other words, it's kind of a big deal, and I know you've all been DYING for the recipe, right?

Well, I'll brief you on the story. As I was searching the web one day, for new ideas for treats of course, I stumbled upon this fabulous little blog called SugarCooking. She is from State College and is like an semi-older version of myself! WOO! There are more of me! Anyway, as I was skimming through her posts, I found this one, and knew it had to be mine. It had to be mine now!

Here we go, take a deep breath.

Bake up some chocolate chip cupcakes, then hollow a little whole out in the center.

Stuff that sucker with a big heaping of cookie dough, minus the egg whites of course. We wouldn't want salmonella to be caused by this delightful package of fabu-lash-ness. Short story. I made these cupcakes twice last week. One for the football boys and one for the church pot-luck. I think I scared the boy who took one and asked if they were ok to eat because they had cookie dough. I tried to explain to him that they were safe, but that raw eggs were present in food we eat everyday, like mayonnaise. After mortifying the poor boy, I have decided that I will keep my nutrition lessons to a minimum. I'll stick to the cupcakes.

Top with brown-sugar cookie icing, chocolate chips, and a homemade chocolate chip cookie! (I used some good old fashion chewy keebler in the first picture. I kind of cheated...ehh, who cares!)

"I think this was your best cupcake yet," I over heard someone say while tasting them. Satisfaction, delight, and Ecstasy are the three words I would use to describe how I feel.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Adapted from Annie's Eats

Items Needed:

For the cupcake:

• 1 white cake mix
• Oil, water, and eggs called for on the package.
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

For the cookie dough filling:

• 4 TBS. softened salted butter
• 6 TBS packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 TBS all-purpose flour
• 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet or milk or even white chocolate chips
  
  

For the brown sugar cookie frosting:

• 3 sticks softened salted butter
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 TBS. milk
• 2 1/2 TBS. vanilla

Garnish:

• Homemade mini chocolate chip cookies. (I would suggest using my chocolate chip cookie recipe, it's nothing short of fabulash) However, store bough cookies take a lot less time, and taste yummy to. (The first picture is shown with store-bought cookies, I am not ashamed!)
• Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Directions:

1. Bake cupcakes according to package, folding in sour cream before baking. Divide between 24-30 baking cup lined cupcake pan.
2. Bake for 18-22 minutes at 350*F.
3. Let cool, meanwhile make cookie dough filling. Combine butter and sugar on medium speed with a mixer for about two minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in flour, sweet. cond. milk, and vanilla. Fold in chocolate chips. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use it.
4. To make the frosting, combine butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in confectioner's sugar, flour, milk, and vanilla until smooth.
5. To assemble, hollow a little hole in the center of each cupcake, eat the scraps. Next roll a ball of cookie dough to fit inside the whole, stuffing may be involved ;)
6. Pipe on frosting, top with a half or a whole of a cookie, and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.

Webster's Dictionary: Ecstasy (See chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake)

Are You Ready For Some Football...and Cupcakes...and Movie Stars?

Wow, what a weekend. First of all, I feel as if college is more like having two full-time jobs. Before this week, I had not baked in two weeks. Yes, two whole weeks. Two weeks of stressful study filled nights and class filled days. But, I made a promise to myself never to go that long without baking. It's just not good for me. It makes me rather unpleasant.

However, I had the most wonderful opportunity ever. Boys and cupcakes. Lots of boys and lots of cupcakes. 75 of them actually. The Lewisburg High School football team always has a team meal before games. Obviously, dessert is a necessary and I could not let them go on thinking that the only dessert was a brownie. Oh those poor boys, I was about to enlighten them to a world that they never knew existed. This was a world of sugar mountains and icing puffs. A world where only hapiness and giggling is permitted. Enter: the cupcake world. (Thank you google images.)

But before that, I must tell you about something else that happened this weekend. A man from my church was very active in planning and building the house for the premier show of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Cool, right? Even cooler...front page of the money section. I guess you could call me famous ... for knowing famous people ;)

Ok, back to cupcakes. I needed to be festive. I needed to be fun. However, football needed to remain as the central theme. I mean, if these kids ate my cupcakes for the first time and they didn't remind them of football, then they might be distracted from the game! I couldn't have that.

So I found the most amazing sprinkles ever. It's like the most wonderful combination of football and babycakes! (and, no dad, they are not whale sprinkles)

I also knew that I needed to specify what these flavors were. Miss Cupcake's whole mission is to obtain cuteness. So, just because these were guys, the presentation still needed to radiate cute. Plus, they needed to know which cupcake would agree with their palate most. (Plus, I made 5 different kinds, I needed to help them out.)

This next picture is a secret picture. One that shouldn't be seen. But, I'm going to give you a taste of more to come. Yes, I will be sharing the other three flavors that I made. Yes, I will give you the recipe. One, because I'm just so nice...and two, because I think you need to experience the most delicious cupcake trio of all time...starting with the one peaking out below.

PS. Pink Tulle is ALWAYS a must.

PSS. The team won, and I decided to claim 7 points. & points that wouldn't have been made without the energy that I gave them. I love my philosophy ... don't you?

165 cupcakes. 75 new boyfriends. Sounds like success to me!

Candy Corn Cheese Ball Clusters

After looking up the definition of cheese one day, I stumbled across this paragraph, "best when in the form of a ball, snuggled next to candy corn, and doused in chocolate." I thought to myself, hmmph, that is quite interesting.

Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating a tad, but really, that's how good this is.

I've been in this "I'm on a creative kick" mode lately. I will be walking through the store and decide to just grab an item because it either looks really good, or it's calling my name to be included in my next treat. I mean, I grabbed sour apple cotton candy because it was $1, but oh the possibilities.

So when I stumbled upon 6 different types of candy corn, I knew my Halloween baking journey would be very fun and filled with candy corn. I'm going to try to make use of them all, and if it keeps going at this rate, I'm not sure what bizarre thing I'll come up with next. Maybe I should stop while I'm ahead? Naaaaahhh ;)

So a few of the ingredients I have rummaged up are right here. Cheeseballs, candy corn, and chocolate came together in my head one day, and honestly...it seemed like a good idea. After conjuring up several people to try them, I knew I would get an honest opinion.

First, I decided that these cute little clusters of joy should not only look festive, but they should look festive together, like a piece of candy corn. (As shown above, if you didn't understand)

I'll admit, it did feel wrong dumping cheeseballs into melted chocolate, I can't lie about that. I also felt that I was defying the 100 calorie pack rule. You know, never pour something intended to be healthy into a large bowl of chocolate. Woops.

Candy Corn Cheeseball Clusters

Items Needed:

• 4 packs of 100 calorie pack cheeseballs (You can use regular cheeseballs too, probably around 2 cups or so)
• 1 1/2 cups of chocolate melting wafers
• 1/4-1/2 cup candy corn (More or less depending on you preference)

1. First of all, line a mini-cupcake pan with 15 wrappers.
2. Then, you must melt the chocolate in 30 second intervals in the microwave until melted.
3. Pour the cheeseballs and candy corn into the chocolate and stir. If you need more candy corn or cheeseballs, now would be the time to add them.
4. Viola! Cover with seasonally festive sprinkles, and let set.
5. Wait for confusion doused with delight.
   

Care to know what my testers thought of the new-fangled product?

• Tester #1 *Mi Madre* "Holy Schnikies Lauren, these are absolutely incredible. It is such an unexpected taste that works so well together.....and they are almost healthy!"

Yeah mom, whatever you say ;)

• Tester #2 *Jared* (Also known as the tester for 75% of my baking and always gives me rave reviews, I like that boy) Background info: I gave him eight, and this is one hour after I gave them to him.

Lauren: Jared, did you like the clusters

Jared: No, but I ate them....all. ;) (He actually loved them)

• Tester #3 *Bal and Tatisha* (Names have been changed to conceal identities)Although Bal was cautious, she said that they were good. Tatisha on the other hand actually had the guts to say that they were weird. Well, your weird, Tatisha. Your weird. (hehe jk.....or am I ;)

Overall, the success if evident. So don't worry next time you are trying to be creative,

but it may not work. Try it! If it fails, just give it to Jared ;)

Oreo-Fluffer-Butter Cupcakes

I get inspired by things like this. Wonderful shapes of ordinary things such as these. Are you kidding me? Football oreos!! So I saw these in the checkout aisle in Walmart one day after I kind of flipped out at the lady in front of me who picked them up before I did. I think she felt threatened by the amount of excitement I had about these oreos. Ehh, I'll probably never see her again, so I'm not that worried...oh wait....I think she just walked by ;)

So then I told myself I needed to buy them because my very good friend happens to play football. What a nice gift, right? Well I thought so, and I put them in my shopping basket and went on my merry way.

But, something happened from the time that I got these oreos home and the time that I gave them to my friend. Well, I didn't give them to my friend. My oven was calling. It was calling with a sweet seductive voice. I needed to use them. Sorry Jared. Actually, there is one left. It's broken, and there is no filling....that's all I got.

So I kind of went crazy, rummaging through my cupboards like I was a teenage boy. I stumbled upon a few other ingredients....... and....

This is what happened. A bowl of brown goo with some oreos on top. Well, luckily it turned out into something at least a little better....

Ok, 1256934993% better. This might be my new favorite cupcake. The combination of peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, and oreos is going to blow your mind. Scroll down a little farther to see what I came up with... you are going to like it ... a lot.

Oreo-Fluffer-Butter Cupcakes

Items Needed:

• 1 Pillsbury Devil's Food Cake Mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup (8oz.) sour cream
• 12 Football (or other shaped) Oreos
• 1/2 cup Fluffer-nutter

For the Icing

• 3 sticks of softened butter
• 7 1/2 cups of 10-x sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 12 Football (or other shaped) Oreos

Directions to PB Chocolate Marshmallow Oreo Heaven.........

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Place cupcake liners into 2 12-count cupcake pans.
2. Combine the cake mix, eggs, water, oil, and sour cream with an electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes. Add the oreos. (There is no need to crush them before you add them...the mixer will do the work. My theory is, why put forth physical effort if you don't have to ;)
3. Dump the fluff into the mixer with the batter, mix just until incorporated slightly, the STOP. (You want it to look like a swirl)
4. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out almost clean.
5. Let cool on a wire rack. Meanwhile make the icing by whipping the butter, 10-x, milk, and vanilla together for 3-5 minutes on medium-high in an electric mixer.
6. Next, add the peanut butter and the whole oreos. Let whip another 1-2 minutes until the oreos are finely chopped.
7. Smear or pipe the icing onto the cooled cupcakes. (You will probably have lots of extra frosting, but it freezes very well and gives you a great excuse to make more!!)
8. Top with a melted peanut butter or chocolate drizzle.
9. Eat and Greet. They will want to know the name of the amazing person who made these...which it is (Insert your name here)

Eat with caution, my friends, your cupcake vocabulary will be changed forever. Move over vanilla-vanilla!

Last Signs of Summer: Watermelon & Feta Salad

Don't you dare judge me for this. I promise this will work out. This is kind of one of those breakthrough ideas, that ultimately....was not mine. (Which is quite sad due to the fact that it is sooo delicious).

Let me tell you a story. One day, my family and I were dining at this lovely little establishment called Ard's Farm Market. (For those of you who know me, this is a 4x a week experience for me). Justin, the chef outside, decided to make this crazy sounding special called "Grilled Tuna Steak with Watermelon Salsa." Weird. Right? Well, he practically forced the special upon me and I had to try it. First of all, I'd be crazy not to marry him, and second of all OMG! Amazing. But what really caught my eye was the watermelon salsa. What an idea! So, of course, I needed to replicate....no not replicate...make it better....no.....experiment creatively! So I did.

After finding a few places that housed some of these types of recipes, I stumbled upon a good one. You cut up some watermelon, so it looks like diced tomatoes (hehehe...definitely confuses people). Then cut up a bunch of cilantro and a bunch of mint.

Soak one small diced onion in the juice of three limes.

Add about a cup (or more) of crumbled feta cheese.

Mix it all together and add about two tablespoons of EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil Rachel Ray style). The best part about this salad is that there is literally NO recipe. That's so exciting right!?

And let me tell you, you are never going to want to go back to regular salsa. So break out those baked tortilla chips (yes baked means better!) and go to town. Watermelon is practically a negative calorie food, so you might as well eat the whole bowl. Make sure you tell me how you feel afterwards hehehe.

Enjoy those last few days of summer warmth and sunshine. Fall is coming quicker than I thought. But that's ok, I've already bought 4 bags of different candy corn flavors to experiment.


Love,
Miss Cupcake