Semi-homemade meets a good cause-I’m so rocking Sandra Lee style today with a tub of school fund-raising cookie dough.
Some of you may be ready to click away, but do me a favor…keep reading because the end result it worth your time. I’m typically not a big fan of using premade cookie dough, but I am a fan of taking action when it comes to raising money for schools. Whether it’s stale popcorn, hideous wrapping paper or double chocolate chunk cookie dough, if it’s for a school, I’m writing a check!
So with a giant tub of cookie dough in one hand and my mixer primed for some action, the pre-made dough ends up being the surprise star in these adorable Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes.
These glorious gems of chocolate goodness are topped with my favorite vanilla buttercream frosting recipe, mini chocolate chips, and a cute little cookie. Not only did I top these Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes with a miniature cookie, I also baked a little ball of dough into their centers! As you can see from the photo, the cookie bakes up beautifully inside the cupcake and it almost takes on the fluffy texture of the cake that surrounds it. Genius, right? Well I certainly thought so, although I’m betting I’m not the first to have this cookie dough cupcake epiphany!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
1/2 cup warm waterFor the Frosting
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milkDirections:
For the Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine instant espresso granules and warm water, stirring until dissolved. Add espresso mixture to the cake batter and stir until fully incorporated.
3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.
4. Measure .4 ounce balls of cookie dough (about 1 teaspoon) and drop a ball of dough into each cupcake. Be sure to use a spoon to completely cover the dough ball with batter.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick entered into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.
For the Frosting
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.
2. Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.
For the Garnish
1. Garnish your cupcakes with mini semi-sweet chocolate chips and a mini chocolate chip cookie.
2. To make the mini cookies, I simply measured out 24 .4 ounce (about 1 teaspoon) balls of dough and baked them according to package directions (about 8-10 minutes). Allow mini cookies to cool completely before adding them to the cupcakes.
Notes:
- If you are choosing to garnish your cupcakes, make sure you do this immediately after you frost your cupcakes. Once the top layer of the buttercream hardens, nothing will stick to the frosting.
- If you do not have instant espresso powder, you can simply omit it from the recipe. You can typically find this product in the coffee aisle of most supermarkets.
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{ 79 comments… read them below or add one }
I have had cookie dough cupcakes before. They are fabulous and yours look gorgeous! I will decorate mine like yours next time!
Those look absolutely beautiful! I think using premade dough is fine every once in a while. I’m going to be making these soon!
Those look amazing! What size piping tip did you use for the frosting?
Thanks for stopping by! I used the large round tip from bakeitpretty.com
Love it! A wonderful idea that I’m printing. I never know what to do with the giant tub of cookie dough I buy to help the school.:) Thank you for sharing a fun recipe to do with my kids.
Oh. My. God.
I know what I’m baking this weekend!
They’re so darn cute!! I bet they’re pretty delicious. My sister in law made something similar a while back but I wasn’t there to try them. I’m gonna have to get on that sometime.
These look awesome! Can’t wait to try them this weekend. Thanks for sharing
There’s no way I was clicking away from this post! These looks Incredible!
These look like so much fun and so delicious! There is nothing wrong with a little semi-homemade, especially when this cupcake is the end result!!
Oh goodness, I do love cookie dough cupcakes. These are so cute!!
Seriously wow. LOVING it!!!
OMG, I would like one sent here please…
THese look amazing. Love the pics!
I made cupcakes like this last year, but with brown sugar cake instead of chocolate! There’s nothing wrong with a little semi-homemade every now and again
These look great!
I’ve never been a huge fan of cupcakes… but holy moly. I could give myself to these cupcakes.
I LOVE finding semi-homemade recipes! Although I love to bake from scratch, its always great to have a few of these recipes tucked away. Thanks so much
P.S. I forgot to mentioned these look amazing.
I love these! I made some afew last year (with a very similar recipe) – and they went down a storm!
I think I might have found what to make my husband for his birthday “cake”!
OOOOOH YUM! I want to make these tonight
If I don’t have espresso, should I still add the 1/2 cup water into the cake batter?
Elaine-
Yes, still add the water, just omit the espresso granules. Happy Baking!!!
-Jamie
Well, I made them and they were delightful! Thank you for posting such great recipes. For Valentines I plan on making your heart shaped red velvet whoopie pies! Have a great weekend!
Umm, wow, I can’t get over that last shot with the cupcake cut open! Chocolate cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies together? That spells trouble
Oh my, these look delicious! Will definitely have to try them soon!
Also, your blog is great!
I am loving your website – I read it right before bed and dream of the decadent ideas. This one is a must try!!!!
I absolutely love these cupcakes! Great idea!
I am all about semi-homemade when the results look like this–yum!!
OMG..Can I have few of them please…they look absolutely divine.
I thought these looked fabulous when I saw the chocolate cookie on top of the cupcake… But, when I discovered that you were also putting the cookie dough IN the cupcake, I knew that this is a recipe I have to try! Love it!
YOu know what happens with that school cookie dough??? I end up eating half of it straight out of the freezer. This year a vow not to buy any! Amazing cupcakes!
these cupcakes look amazing & easy to re-create! thanks!
Um, do you deliver! Seriously, Jamie, your killing me-two of my favs in one!
Oh my goodness! These look incredible. I would kill to have one bite right now! Love the pics too.
Wow these cupcakes look amazing! How creative to use your cookie dough for the cupcake filling as well as the garnish. Thanks for sharing!
Looks sooooo yummy!!! I do this with brownies… you should do it too! Make the brownie/cookie batter. Pour in brownie batter and then add chunks of cookie dough on top of the brownie. Bake and DIE OF SHEER BLISS!
Love this blog.. it just makes me smile!
I love everything about these cupcakes and every detail is just perfect! My goodness, I’m so impressed. I’m going to make these even if my husband blames me for the additional 5lbs he’s about to gain.
Love the mini-chips! So cute. Cupcakes look delicious, and I can’t wait to make one…dozen
Any recipe gluten free?
Okay, you’ve made me hungry! These cookies look amazing. I’m having friends over tomorrow to bake, and we may just have to try these. Keep on bloggin’!
Live, laugh, love, bake.
my son and i just made these and they are great! we used extra peanut butter dough we had in the freezer from peanut butter cookies. thanks for posting such great recipes!
Does it get any better than this? Some of my fave things combined into one. Yum!
I made these (with some variations, like homemade cookie dough and a different chocolate cupcake recipe) and they were a huge hit! Lots of fun to make too!
I made these for superbowl Sunday and they were fantastic. Everyone loved them. I bought some to work the next day and they were enjoyed there to. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Cute! Seems in line with the stuffed-cookie craze that is sweeping the blog world….and a good way to zazzle up storebought cookie dough!
i was inspired to make some of my own! most recipes i’ve seen are for vanilla cupcakes + cookie dough, but i liked your idea of chocolate cupcakes. i’m also always trying to emulate your piping skills…always beautifully done. plus from the looks of it, i think we have the same feelings about frosting to cake ratios! thanks for the inspiration!
I just discovered your blog and I am completely in love with all of the fabby cupcake recipes! So far, I think I’ve bookmarked about five, but I get the feeling that the final number will be even more. They all look so yummy!
This was a great recipe to make. However, I was wondering, do I have to put the cupcakes in the fridge after I frost them? Does the frosting since it contains butter spoil if I dont put it in the fridge?
Jackie-
I recommend storing the cupcakes in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Allow the cupcakes to come to room temperature before serving.
Jamie
Hi Jamie – these look awesome!! I’m not totally into the coffee flavor though, can I omit the espresso? If so, should I make any other substitutions and/or does the cake flavor still finish well? I really want to try these soon!
PS – love your blog!
Jen-
The espresso really isn’t detectable, but you can certainly omit it. Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Jamie
Hello! This is such a wonderful idea, and I was just curious about the frozen cookie dough. Do you thaw it before you put it into the cupcake batter, or does it get dropped into the batter completely frozen?
Thank you so much for your time and all the wonderful recipe ideas!
Lynette–
Thanks so much for stopping by and your kind words.I used refrigerated cookie dough, not frozen. Hope this helps.
–Jamie
Hi Jamie!
I was wondering if you had made these again, but with your own cookie dough batter yet? Instead of refrigerated cookie dough? Wondering which of your c-c-cookie dough recipes you would use! They still look amazing and I really need to make these soon!
Soo cute!!!
Just made these today for my husband’s Aunt who just lost her husband. I know these wil help. Can’t wait to try one myself.
can I freeze these and take them out the day before the party
Marianna–
You can freeze the cake, not the frosting. Thanks for stopping by.
Jamie
I made these for my daughter’s party! Everyone thought they were totally delish and gourmet! I love your recipes!!
This looks really good….Cant wait to make them:)
We just hosted a Milk & Cookies party for our 4 year old. I used your cupcake decoration as inspiration (via Pinterest). Thanks!
Milk & Cookie Theme Birthday Party
I made these yesterday, but the center of my cupcakes sunk in. Is there a reason for this and how can I prevent this from happening?
I think because the cake is so dense, with the sour cream & pudding, it does tend to sink a little. However, once you put the frosting on the top, you will never know! Just fill in the sunken area before going around with the frosting.
I was wondering, would this recipe would work just as well as a sheet or round cake?
Jessica-
I have not tried this recipe as a sheet cake, but I am thinking it would work just fine. I would follow the baking time recommendation on the back of the cake mix box for an approximate cook time. Hope this helps.
-Jamie
I saw these, saw a ton of people said they looked good but hardly anyone commented on how this exact recipe was. I took a leap and made them for my twins birthday party and guess what? they were insannnnnne! these made me a rock star to quite alot of kids, and adults as well! thank u!!
Jeannine-
Thanks so much for reporting back on your experience with the cupcakes. I am thrilled to hear that they worked out so well for you.
-Jamie
We made these, but our frosting turned out really runny and the tops caved in when we took them out of the oven… other than that they were awesome!
Lauren-
Sometimes when you stuff anything into a cupcake you’ll get a little divot. This doesn’t bother me too much because it gets covered with all that yummy frosting. No idea why the frosting would be runny though, unless you added a bit too much liquid. Hopefully they tasted good!
-Jamie
I just found these (and your site thanks to Amber @Bluebonnets) and made these for my son’s class yesterday and this is what his teacher emailed me:
Those cupcakes were insane!!!! Wow! Best cupcake I’ve ever had!
So, they were pretty good!
Mary Kay-
Woo-Hoo – so happy to hear that were a raging success! Thanks for coming by and sharing your thoughts on the recipe. Have a great day.
-Jamie
hi, i made this recipe yesterday and it tasted great! but the only thing was that the cupcakes caved in completely after the baking was done, i was so mad. i used a devil’s food cake mix that i realized had allready pudding in the mix could have that been the problem? please reply because i want to make these again but need an answer to
Bobby-
I find that stuffing cupcakes can create a small divot about the size of a quarter. I typically don’t worry about it though, because it gets covered with frosting. If the divot is bigger than that, your cupcakes may have been underbaked. Sorry I am not much of a help.
-Jamie
Do you only mix the devils food cake mix and pudding mix dry ingredients? Or do you follow the directions on the box(es) and add the additional ingredients?
Thank you.
Christine-
Don’t follow the directions on the boxes, just the directions in the recipe. You will be using the dry mixes. Hope this helps!
-Jamie
This sure looks yummy. Thanks for sharing.
do you know how many cups 2 pounds of powdered sugar is? thanks and this recipe looks amazing! im going to make them tonight
Zaynub-
It’s about 7 1/2 cups. I’d start with about 5 1/2 cups and gradually work your way to the desired taste and texture.
-Jamie
Just made the cupcakes today…turned out great. I was a little worried at the thickness of the batter but have no fear…they turn out delicious. I used instant coffee because I couldn’t find espresso and still worked and tasted great. Super easy. I am making them for my husband to take to work… Huge it for sure!!
These look really good and you do a really good job explaining how to make them!!
I have made this recipe twice and it turned out great both times! It is so simple and everyone is always so amazed, thank you for sharing!
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