Week 28 – Cookies & Cream Cupcakes
While the kiddo may have been the one to pick this recipe out, it was one the entire family could get behind!
My biggest struggle was the frosting. I couldn’t seem to get it to that light, whipped consistency, but the texture sure FELT like it was, if that makes any sense?
Also, a word of warning! You really need to get your cookie pieces chopped VERY finely if you are going to add them to the frosting. I was using a decorating bag with a large tip and was STILL getting big pieces of cookies stuck. That’s why my cupcakes look the way the do! When I make these again I will probably just add the cookie pieces on top as a pretty sprinkling. I’m all about making life in the kitchen easier!
IF YOU CAN’T FIND CAKE FLOUR! You can make your own! Get 1 cup of all purpose flour, remove 2 tbsp and replace with 2 tbsp of cornstarch. Whisk it well and now you have cake flour! Yes, it is THAT easy!
We got the KitchenAid Sifter attachment years ago while I was in the thick of it with Lymes disease. The treatment was rough and left my body broken for a long time. One of the things I really suffered with was the use of my hands. They constantly ached and trembled, I would have muscle spasms and lose strength quickly. Sifting sugar for buttercream icing was a task I could no longer do. Ever the problem solver, Scott found out that KA made an attachment that would do that for me. Pricey at $100, but soooo worth it. I may have regained my hand dexterity, but I will still opt for that attachment almost every time! Honestly, the amount of KA attachment I have is a little embarrassing, but each one is such a time saver in the kitchen!
Details
12 Cupcakes
22 minutes
Print
Ingredients
- Cupcakes
1 cup (120g) cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons (11g) black cocoa (or regular cocoa powder)
1/4 cup (21g) unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup (149g) granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 tablespoons (31g) vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (142g) water
2 large eggs
- Frosting
1 1/8 cups (192g) white baking chips or morsels
1/2 cup (113g) heavy cream or whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons (42g) butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons (35g) vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons (14g) confectioners’ sugar
4 chocolate sandwich cookies
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or silicone muffin cups and grease the cups.
- To make the cupcakes: In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoas, and sugar.
- Add the butter and mix at low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, add the oil and continue mixing until the mixture looks sandy, about 30 seconds more.
- In a large measuring cup, combine the vanilla with the water, and add all at once to the dry ingredients. Mix for 1 minute at low speed. Stop and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then mix for 30 seconds more.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating at medium-high speed between each.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix for 30 seconds more. The batter will be thin.
- Pour the batter into the prepared wells of the pan, filling them two-thirds full (about 50g to 52g batter per cupcake).
- Bake the cupcakes for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the middle cupcakes comes out clean.
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven, and as soon as you can handle them transfer them from the pan to a rack to cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting: Place the baking morsels in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- In a saucepan, warm the cream over medium heat (or in the microwave) until the mixture begins to steam. Pour the cream over the baking morsels and let sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Gently stir until the morsels are completely melted. Set the mixture (ganache) aside to cool to room temperature (75° or below).
- Once the ganache has cooled to room temperature, stir in the salt and vanilla.
- Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the ganache on low speed, slowly adding the butter and shortening in several additions.
- After the butter and shortening have been added, increase the speed to high and whip the ganache until fluffy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Sift the confectioners’ sugar into the whipped ganache, stirring to combine.
- Pulse the chocolate sandwich cookies in a food processor or put them in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to grind into fine crumbs. Stir into the frosting.
- Spread or pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.
- Storage information: Store cupcakes, covered, at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.
