Back when I made chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes, I mentioned that I thought they'd be really good in miniature form and that I wanted to try them that way at some point. Well, here they are -- that same combination of buttery vanilla cupcake, gooey chocolate chip cookie dough, and sweet brown sugar frosting now in bite-size form!
Making mini versions of baked goods requires a good deal of patience... it takes longer to make 96 mini cupcakes than it does to make 24 regular-size cupcakes, and it takes much longer to make miniature cookies and miniature dough balls too. Luckily, it's easy (and necessary) to break up the process.
I recommend starting a day ahead of time. Make the eggless cookie dough first, scoop it, and get the balls of dough in the freezer. Then make the mini cookie dough. I used the New York Times recipe for these this time, substituting mini chips for the chocolate feves. The dough can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container overnight (or a couple days if necessary).
The next day, make the cupcake batter and bake the cupcakes with the pre-scooped balls of eggless cookie dough. While the cupcakes are cooling, scoop and bake the mini cookies. While the mini cookies are cooling, make the frosting. Finally, frost the cooled cupcakes and top each with a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips and a cooled mini cookie.
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes (adapted from Beantown Baker)
Makes 96 mini cupcakes
Print this version
Cupcakes
Ingredients
2 2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 sticks softened butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Eggless cookie dough balls, frozen (recipe below)
Brown sugar frosting (recipe below)
Mini chocolate chips for garnish
Mini chocolate chip cookies for garnish (recipe below)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line mini cupcake pan with paper liners.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, and set aside.
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed until soft, about 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, and continue beating on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time, and beat for 30 seconds after each, scraping bowl as needed.
Measure out milk and vanilla together.
Add about one-fourth of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture, and beat to combine. Add about one-third of the milk/vanilla mixture, and beat until combined. Repeat, alternating with the flour mixture and the milk mixture, ending with the flour mixture.
Scoop batter into paper liners, using 1 medium scoop (1 1/2-teaspoon capacity) of batter per cup.
Top each cup with a frozen ball of eggless cookie dough. Press down just slightly to adhere the dough to the batter.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until toothpick inserted in cupcake (not cookie dough) comes out clean.
Transfer pan to wire rack to cool. After about 5 minutes (or until cupcakes are cool enough for you to handle), remove cupcakes from tins, and set them on rack to cool completely.
Re-line pan with paper liners and repeat with remaining batter. (You should have enough batter to bake 4 pans of mini cupcakes, or 96 mini cupcakes)
Once the cupcakes are cool, frost them with the brown sugar frosting.
Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top of the cupcakes, and garnish each cupcake with a mini cookie.
Eggless Cookie Dough Balls (adapted from Beantown Baker)
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Preparation
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Beat in milk and vanilla.
Beat in flour and salt just until combined. Then beat in mini chocolate chips.
Scoop dough into teaspoon-size balls, and freeze on cookie sheets lined with parchment. Once dough is firm, scoop dough balls into freezer bags. Freeze overnight before using in cupcake recipe. You'll need 96 balls of dough for this recipe. Use extras for another baking project.
Brown Sugar Frosting (adapted from Beantown Baker)
Unless you go really light on the frosting, plan to make 1 1/2 or 2 batches of frosting to have enough for all of the mini cupcakes. This recipe makes 1 batch.
Ingredients
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine butter and brown sugar, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth.
Add in the salt, milk, and vanilla, and beat just until smooth and combined.
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from The New York Times)
Ingredients
3 2/3 cups minus 2 tablespoons (17 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Preparation
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in large bowl, and set aside.
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add vanilla.
Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients. Mix just until combined.
Mix in mini chocolate chips.
Transfer dough to bowl, press plastic wrap against surface of dough, and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large cookie sheets with Silpat mats.
Roll cookie dough into 96 1/4-teaspoon-size balls. Space 48 balls of cookie dough evenly on each cookie sheet.
Bake 1 tray at a time for 5 to 6 minutes, until cookies are set. Let cool on tray, and then transfer to wire rack.
Any remaining dough can be used to make regular-size cookies or for another baking project. For long-term storage, scoop dough into balls and freeze dough balls on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. When dough is firm, transfer to freezer bags.
I definitely preferred these cupcakes in mini form. Besides how cute they look, they're also the perfect proportion for such a sweet treat. And you can eat several of them (and I know you will) without feeling guilty about it!
What are your favorite cookie-dough-based treats?