Cookie Dough Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cupcakes and a Review

Do you ever lick the mixing bowl after baking cookies? There's something about cookie dough that is naughty and nice. Ben & Jerry's sell cookie dough ice cream so it's not a surprise to see that there is a whole book on cookie dough appropriately named 'The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook' by Lindsay Landis. Lindsay has a blog called Love & Olive Oil which she shares with her husband Taylor. It's well worth a visit as there are fantastic recipes with excellent photography. 

I fell in love with the book at first sight. I love the size of the book and the fact that it is spiral bound making it easy to have open pages in the kitchen.  The photographs are stunning and there is a photograph for each recipe (big bonus points from me) The cookie dough recipe is eggless so it's safe to eat. I think this page says it all  .... 

The book is divided into 

Introduction - useful section on different cookie dough flavours and variations (gluten free/vegan) and a section on key ingredients and equipment. 

Candy - mainly cookie dough truffles, cookie dough cups, fudge, marshmallow, bark and lollipops

Cookie and Brownies - includes whoopie pies and millionaire bars.

Cakes, Custards and Pies - cakes, cheesecake, bread pudding, creme brulee and tartlets. 

Frozen Treats - ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, milkshakes and ice pops.

Indulgent Breakfasts - pancakes, french toast, crepes, doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, waffles and granola bars. 

Fun Snacks and Party Fare - crispy treats, cannoli, S'mores, pizza! 

It has a 160 pages in total. Each recipe is set out clearly with a brief introduction and then the ingredients with each section highlighted. It gives details of how many it makes, active time and total time. There is also a quick tip box on some pages which is helpful. The main problem I have with this book is that the recipe measurements are in cups. I know it's an American book so I really can't complain but I do wish it had metric measurements as well! 

My verdict - I think it's a brilliant book and would have bought myself a copy if I saw it in in the shops or online. Major plus points for me are a photograph to accompany every recipe, spiral bound book,  good range of recipes which are beautifully set out. Minus point is the cup measurement. There is a 'cookie dough lover's cheat sheet' on the inside front cover which converts cups to tablespoons/ sticks of butter to cups and weight to cups which is still not very helpful to me. The temperature chart is handy though. 

After shortlisting quite a few recipes, I decided to make cookie dough stuffed dark chocolate cupcakes. I'm so glad I did as they were delicious!! Dark chocolate is my favourite and the addition of cookie dough in the buttercream plus the hidden chocolate chip cookie dough inside brought it to a whole new level. Everyone who tasted the cake agreed and there wasn't a single crumb left! 

 This is an easy, mix all in one cupcake recipe. 

 chocolate chip cookie dough and plain cookie dough on the right (reserved for the frosting)

 Core the cupcake and eat the ends! 

 Fill with chocolate chip cookie dough

 Cover it back 

 Pipe frosting on top 

 sprinkle with chocolate chips 

 Yum! 

Recipe reproduced with permission from the publisher.

I have converted the measurements to metric by weighing the ingredients on my scale. 

Makes 12 cupcakes; Active time: 30 minutes; Total time: 1 hour

For cupcakes

125g/1 cup all purpose flour

40g/ 1/3 cup cocoa powder

56g/ 1/4 cup caster sugar

100g/ 1/2 cup light brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

180mls/ 3/4 cup whole milk

125mls / 1/2 cup vegetable oil 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

For cookie dough

113g/ 1/2 cup/ 1 stick butter, room temperature 

56g/ 1/4 cup caster sugar

100g/ 1/2 cup light brown sugar

60mls / 1/2 cup milk or cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

125g/ 1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

120g/ 2/3 cup chocolate chips, divided

For buttercream

170g/ 3/4cup/1.5sticks butter, room temperature

250g/2 cups icing sugar

• Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
• Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
• Ina mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugars, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs.
• Stir until just combined, scraping bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula to incorporate all of the flour
• Fill cupcake liners with scant 1/4 cup of the batter (<2 full="full" li="li">
• Bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

• While cupcakes cool, prepare the cookie dough. 
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together butters and sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. 
• Beat in milk and vanilla. 
• Add flour and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. 
• Set aside 230g/1 cup of the dough for the buttercream.
• Stir 60g/ 1/3 cup chocolate chips into the remaining dough. 

• To prepare the buttercream, cream butter with an electric mixer until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. 
• Slowly add icing sugar and beat until smooth. 
• Add the reserved plain cookie dough and mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.

• Using a paring knife (I used a melon baller), cut a cone-shaped piece from the top of each cooled cupcake; pinch off and dispose of (ie eat!) the tip of each cone. 
• Fill cupcakes with the remaining cookie dough and replace tops. 
• Generously spread or pipe on frosting, being sure to cover the seams. Sprinkle with the remaining 60g/ 1/3 cup chocolate chips. 

Baker's notes - I ended up making 1.5 batches of these cupcakes as the recipe makes enough cookie dough filling and buttercream for 18 cupcakes. 

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book to review free of charge. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.