Cookie Cupcakes! Custom Design Them For Your Taste ♥

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Sometimes I have too much going on. Where there are not nearly enough hours in the day, and I sort of have a hard time saying no to more.

“I would LOVE to meet up for dinner/cocktails/whatever!”

“Of course I will take your last-minute order!”

“While I was up last night working, I figured it would be a good time to clean the bathroom too!”

“I absolutely have time to watch a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie/Law and Order/Spartacus/Top Gun for the millionth time with you!”

(I frightened myself when I realized I actually spelled Jean-Claude Van Damme correctly…)

Then, with everything going on you have some party or shower or whatever event going on. You can’t show up empty handed!  Hey, we all need some shortcuts once in a while. Why not make something that is awesome AND easy!

Check out my cookie cupcakes.

  Oh yeah. With Reece’s Pieces. These cuppies are kicking ass and taking names.

In case you don’t like peanut butter, don’t fret my pet. I am going to show you how to make these magical cupcakes two different ways. The best part is that you can custom design your own cookie cupcakes to have whatever mix-in and frosting you like. Gosh, I’m so considerate.

 Here is what you need:

–Candy. I used Laffy Taffy and Reese’s Pieces. Just be aware that some candy probably won’t work well as they are going to be baked at a very high temperature and then cooled off.

–Frosting. Home-made or store bought (if you must). I will show you some options later on.

-EITHER store bought cookie dough or home-made cookie dough. We all know I recommend the latter. If you do not have your own cookie dough recipe, here is a pretty good one:

• 1 stick or ½ cup of unsalted butter (softened to cool room temperature, not too soft)
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups of flour (all-purpose)
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• ¾ teaspoon of baking powder

1. In small bowl mix together flour, salt, and baking powder

2. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer until fluffy.

3.  Add eggs and then vanilla.

4. Add flour mixture a little at a time until fully combined. Try to avoid over mixing the cookie dough.

-Oh yeah, forgot one more thing. You need silicone baking cups. These look like the regular paper you bake cupcakes in, but they are made of silicone. Much, much easier to remove from your cupcakes without any casualties. FYI these are available at stores like Target, Art Supply Stores, William Sonoma, Wal-Mart (shudder.), and more, if you do not want to purchase them online.

Preheat oven to 350°. Grab your  silicone baking cups.

Press a layer of cookie dough into the bottom of each cup. The layers should be pretty even.

Now press in some Reese’s Pieces.

Now add a second layer of cookie dough.

Add MORE Reese’s Pieces. As if anyone would object to more.

 

Now add one more layer of cookie dough, and top it off with some chopped Reese’s.

     Place them in a pan or something that will support and hold them in the oven.  Now, maybe you aren’t a peanut butter kind of person, or you want something more festive looking. Buy some Laffy Taffy, Starbursts, Jelly Beans, or any fruity fun candy.

Here is what I did with Laffy Taffy:

I used scissors to cut up the Laffy Taffy into small pieces.

It pretty much works the same from here. Press in cookie dough,

add some of your fruity candy,

Then keep layering, and top off with some candy at the top. It looks like an edible mosaic.

Bake your cookie cups for about 20 minutes.

               This is where you need to decide on frosting. First there are these bottles of frosting. They even have different tips so they come out with different textures and designs. How convenient.

Personally, if I am going to settle for something pre-made or store bought, then I am going to go for something more rich as opposed to overly sweet and processed. Hop on over to the peanut butter section in the grocery store. You can use this for your Reese’s cookie cupcakes:

Ohhhhhh yeaaah.

They have other flavors, such as white chocolate. Regular peanut butter or nutella also work pretty well.

Take you frosting or peanut butter and place it into a Ziploc bag and snip one corner, or if you want a pretty swirl, scoop it into a piping bag with an open star tip.

For the fruity cookie cupcakes, I decided to make strawberry frosting.

This is what you need:

-About 3-4 strawberries

-1 cup of confectioner’s (powdered) sugar

– ½ tablespoon of heavy cream or milk

– ¼ cup of unsalted butter (half of a stick)

This was enough for about 7 cookie cupcakes, so if you are making more than double or triple your recipe.

Beat butter in a mixer.

Add your sugar. Wait until it is as well combined as possible. It will look crumbly and waaay too thick. Don’t worry.

Add in your cream and it will begin to look more moist. It will still be very thick.

 

Take 3-4 strawberries and toss them into a food processor.

 I used the “chop” setting to puree them.

 Add about 1 tablespoon to a strainer over your frosting.

Push it through with a spatula. This keeps most of the seeds out.

I guess if you are a weirdo who likes to get seeds stuck in your teeth then skip this step.

Mix the puree into your frosting. Test the taste and thickness. You want it to taste like strawberries (obviously), but you want it to be thick enough so it will stay on top of your cookie cupcakes.

Add another tablespoon through the strainer and mix again, if needed.

 Repeat until you have the right consistency. I used a little less than 2 tablespoons.

Spoon frosting into a plastic storage bag or piping bag with tip.

Now take those cookie cupcakes out of the oven. You may need to use a toothpick to separate the top of your fruity candy cupcake from the silicone liner.

Use your piping bag or Ziploc bag and squirt or swirl a little mound/spiral in the center of your cookie cupcake.

This help supports the center of your larger swirl. Now swirl around the center blob/swirl.

You’re done! Everyone will marvel over how delicious and different these are. The fruity candy cupcakes work very well for birthday parties and celebrations. The Reese’s Pieces cookie cupcakes are so rich and thick, you will want to have them with a glass of milk.

♥

UPDATE!: I made a VIDEO for these and have some new fun photos.  CLICK HERE to see.

****If you are considering posting up photos or ideas from this or any other posts I am truly happy that you are excited and find my recipes interesting enough to share with others. Please see copyright standards in the footer (bottom) of this or any page.

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