I’ve gotten into something of a routine since coming here to Chile and as you can see from this post, it’s not always the healthiest.
Saturdays are my day to go to the market. There I buy all the ingredients I need to cook for the week and a few extra things to do some baking for my friends. This particular weekend was special, however. My friend Chris had just returned from a trip to the States and aside from bringing me all the things I’d asked my mom to mail to his house, he brought me a couple surprises.
First from his bag he pulled three bags of Ghirardelli chocolate chips which by themselves could have made my day or perhaps my entire week. In Chile there is a severe shortage of chocolate which is almost crippling for a chocoholic like myself. On a regular basis I have to satisfy myself with overly sweet, almond filled chocolate instead of the dark squares of Lindt, Ghirardelli or Tcho which I’m normally accustomed to. As such, it was absolutely no surprise to me that Chile is short on chocolate chips as well.
I was so happy with my chocolate chips that I barely noticed the second gift which came with them. It was even better than the chocolate chips, if you can believe it. It was a piping bag kit for frosting cakes and cupcakes. It came with 2 reusable piping bags and 10 tips to make all different designs. I was floored. The kit was one of the kindest gifts anyone had given me and I knew I had to put it to use immediately as a way to say thank you.
The problem was I wanted to make something using the chocolate chips and also be able to use the piping bag. I knew there had to be recipes out there for making chocolate chip cookie dough filled cupcakes and I was lucky enough to find this one. Everyone loved the cupcakes and the best part was seeing people’s faces as they bit into the cupcakes to find the surprise of a ball of cookie inside!
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes (adapted from Recipe Girl)
Yield: About 16 cupcakes
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (or perhaps slightly less, I found my cookies had a bit too much flour)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips (I used full sized chocolate chips)
Directions for Cookie Dough Filling:
1) In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
2) In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to stir together the butter, sugars, milk and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips.
3) Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on plate or pan. Freeze until firm, at least 30 minutes. You can also do this part the night before making the cupcakes and then just have them ready to pop into the cupcake batter the next day.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions for Chocolate Cupcakes:
4) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.
5) In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt
6) Add the water, oil, egg and vanilla and mix well.
7) Divide the batter between the 12 cupcake liners. Drop a ball of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough into the center of each cupcake. If you would like the cookie dough to bake slightly, keep the top visible. If you'd like to keep the cookie dough somewhat raw, push it to the bottom of the cupcake liner, making sure that the batter covers the dough.
8) Bake the cupcakes for 20 to 25 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 clean. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate curls or mini chocolate chips (optional garnishes)
Directions for Cookie Dough Frosting:
9) In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.
10) Mix in the flour, milk and vanilla and continue to mix until all is well combined.
11) Frost cupcakes with a knife or using a piping bag (hooray I own one of these!). Sprinkle chocolate curls on top or garnish with mini chocolate chips
