Cupcake Wars Part 1

Picture it: Labor Day weekend, 2011...it's Sunday and it's drizzling and dreary outside. Evan and I were invited to a friend's house for a beer tasting (all of these homebrew guys getting together to geek out about some very special beers...oh joy!) and I felt it necessary to bring something. After all, every well-mannered Southern girl knows it's rude to show up to a party without something in hand.

Of course, I decided to make cupcakes. But not normal cupcakes...Oh no. I really wanted to make a beer-centered cupcake but Evan wasn't prepared to part with any of his precious beers and, seeing as how we live in Georgia, we couldn't go out and buy any. So, I set aside my dreams of chocolate stout cupcakes for another day and focused on something I could make with just a quick trip to the grocery store.

I stumbled upon this delightful website: http://www.cupcakeproject.com/

It's like something out of a dream! She's done all this work and come up with some fantastically creative cupcake ideas! :)

I searched through her files and found this delicious recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes.

I altered it a little bit because I was short on time. I used a plain yellow cake mix and prepared according to the directions. While they were cooking, I sat down and followed the recipe for this yummy raw cookie dough that's safe to eat. No eggs. Delicious and safe? Count me in!!!

All you have to do is mix everything together in a big bowl. No muss, no fuss.

• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 3/4 C unsalted butter, melted
• 1 C packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C white sugar
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 4 T milk
  
• Mini chocolate chips (you can really use anything you want, but I chose this)

I actually doubled the recipe so that I could use some part of it to make the frosting for the cupcakes. I separated out 1 1/2 cups before I put the chocolate chips in it.

Anyway, once the cupcakes were cooled, I cut out a cone shaped portion so that I could then stuff some cookie dough balls in there.

Once that was finished, I mixed the separated portion of the cookie dough with a cup or so of heavy cream and spread it out on top of the cupcakes.

Cookie Dough Icing? Yes, please!

Finally, as they looked a tad plain, I topped them off with a tiny ball of cookie dough. They turned out so cute, didn't they?

I absolutely LOVE cookie dough, so these were superb in my mind. :) It was definitely a successful Sunday.

However...the Chocolate Stout cupcakes were still on my mind...stay tuned for Cupcake Wars Part 2 to see how that turns out.