Wednesday, 12 November 2014

Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

In these short and dark November days, one of the best indoor pastimes is to bake.




 Take a little time out this weekend to bake these cute Cookie Dough Cupcakes. The recipe bakes 24 cupcakes so they are the ideal gift for family or friends. Or you could just half the recipe too!
Cookie dough. I feel like it's everywhere - a bit like something else I could mention.
But seriously, with cookie dough, there has been ice creamcakecheesecake and of course, the cupcake. 
I decided to go down the cupcake route with:
A brown butter sponge with edible cookie dough baked right into it and a dream-like vanilla buttercream swirled over it, not forgetting a cube of more cookie dough to decorate.

Cookie Dough, previously: Cookie Dough Caramel Ice Cream SundaeStrawberry Chocolate Chip CookiesGiant Triple Chocolate CookiesChocolate Peanut Butter CookiesChocolate Chip Cookies

A Simple List of Ingredients:

1. Plain Flour
2. Caster Sugar
3. Light Brown Sugar
4. Plain Yoghurt
5. Unsalted Butter
6. Salt
7. Vanilla
8. Dark or Milk Chocolate
9. Self-Raising Flour
10. Bicarbonate of Soda
11. Eggs
12. Milk
13. Icing Sugar

Bismillah, let's begin!

First, we will make a raw egg free cookie dough. Into a large bowl, put in 160 grams (6 ounces) Plain Flour.

Sprinkle in 130 grams (5 ounces) Caster Sugar.

And, 4 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar, also known as demerara sugar.

Then, add 2 tablespoons Plain Yoghurt. The original recipe used soya yoghurt, so you can use that too.

Then, in goes 170 grams (6 ounces) Unsalted Butter, softened.

Sprinkle in 1/2 teaspoon Salt and pour in 2 teaspoons Vanilla.

Mix everything together until you get a sticky dough.

You can't have cookie dough without chocolate so in goes 50 grams (2 ounces) Milk or Dark Chocolate, chopped into small chunks
You can also use chocolate chips - I just like to make my life extra difficult.
I recommend using dark chocolate because the cake and buttercream are going to be quite sweet but if you have a real sweet tooth, throw in the milk chocolate.

Stir in the chocolate and the cookie dough is ready to be frozen.

Take a sheet of clingfilm or foil (I would recommend the foil), and plop on all of the cookie dough.

Shape to roughly 1.5cm thick.

Wrap it up ...

.. and put into the freezer for 2 hours until firm.

Next, on to making the cupcake sponge. Take 200 grams (7 ounces) Unsalted Butter, and place into a small saucepan. Let it melt over a low heat.

Turn the heat to medium and let it bubble.

Once it's foaming, smelling delicious and golden brown ...

... pour into a heatproof bowl. 
Leave to cool in the fridge for 20 minutes or until it reaches a spreadable consistency.

Next, line two 12 hole cupcake trays with paper liners.
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5 or 170 degrees fan.

Into a mixing bowl, place 130 grams (5 ounces) Caster Sugar.

Sprinkle in 120 grams (4 ounces) Light Brown Sugar.

In a small bowl, mix together:
250 grams (9 ounces) Self-Raising Flour
1/2 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
Pinch of Salt

Add them to the main bowl.

Then, add 60 grams (2 ounces) Unsalted Butter, softened.

And, crack in 4 large Eggs.

Take out the brown butter from the fridge. It should be firm but soft enough to spread.

Add all the brown butter to the bowl.

Using a stand mixer, electric mixer or by hand, mix well for a minute to combine.

Pour in 3 tablespoons Milk.

Beat again to combine.

Finally, add in 40 grams (1 ounce) Milk or Dark Chocolate, chopped into small chunks.
And, you can also use chocolate chips too!

Give the batter a final stir.

It's time to fill your cases.

Fill each case two-thirds full.

Then, take out the frozen cookie dough.

Slice it in half, and put one half back into the freezer. 
Slice the half into 24 equal sized chunks.

Place one chunk on top of each cupcake.

Put the cupcakes in to bake for 20 minutes or until they spring back when touched.
Cool for 5 minutes in the tray and the completely on a wire rack.

While the cakes cool, make the vanilla buttercream. Place 300 grams (11 ounces) Unsalted Butter, softened, into a bowl.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter for 5 minutes until smooth and really creamy.

The trick for really good buttercream is a softened (not melted or too cold) butter and a really good beating.
So, how do you soften butter? Well, it pays to be super organised here and take it out of the fridge a few hours before you need it. Leave it on the kitchen counter and it'll come up to room temperature and be really soft.

Next, take 675 grams (24 ounces) Icing Sugar, sifted.

I like to measure the icing sugar into a large bowl, and then sift into the mixing bowl as I need it.

Add half the icing sugar to the butter.

Beat well until all the icing sugar has been incorporated.

Sift in the remaining icing sugar.

Beat again until creamy and smooth.

If you are using fresh vanilla, add the seeds of one Vanilla Pod now.

Otherwise, stir together:
4 tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
And, pour into the bowl.

Beat again for 5 minutes until the buttercream is really pale and smooth.

Pop the buttercream into a piping bag. I prefer the disposable ones and I get them from here.

Tie the end with an elastic band and grab your cooled cupcakes.

Pipe on the icing or you could even put it on with two spoons.

Take the other half of frozen cookie dough out of the freezer.

Slice into 24 equal sized chunks.

And, place over each cupcake.

Serve the cupcakes immediately.

If you are making them in advance, put the cookie dough on at the last minute otherwise it will melt and go soft.

I hope you enjoy these sweet treats - package them up and hand out to friends and family.

Children will adore them as will anyone with a sweet tooth, for that matter.

Full Written Recipe:

Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Adapted from Cupcake Jemma

Ingredients – makes 24 cupcakes

For the Cookie Dough
160 grams (6 ounces) Plain Flour
130 grams (5 ounces) Caster Sugar
4 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar (Demerara)
2 tablespoons Plain Yoghurt
170 grams (6 ounces) Unsalted Butter, softened
½ teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Vanilla
50 grams (2 ounces) Dark Chocolate or Milk Chocolate, chopped into small chunks

For the Cupcakes
260 grams (9 ounces) Unsalted Butter, cubed
130 grams (5 ounces) Caster Sugar
120 grams (4 ounces) Light Brown Sugar
250 grams (9 ounces) Self-Raising Flour
½ teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
Pinch of Salt
4 large Eggs
40 grams (1 ounce) Milk or Dark Chocolate, chopped into small chunks
3 tablespoons Milk

For the Vanilla Buttercream
300 grams (11 ounces) Unsalted Butter, softened
1 teaspoon Vanilla or seeds of a vanilla pod
4 tablespoons Milk
675 grams (24 ounces) Icing Sugar, sifted

Method

First, to make the cookie dough, take a large bowl. Put in the flour, caster sugar, brown sugar, yoghurt, butter, salt and vanilla. Mix until you get a sticky dough.

Stir in the chocolate, and place the whole thing onto a piece of clingfilm or foil. Shape to roughly 1.5cm thick, and then wrap up. Freeze for 2 hours until firm.

Next, to make the cupcakes, we need to brown some of the butter.
Into a small saucepan, place 200 grams (7 ounces) of the butter. Let it melt over a low heat and then turn the heat to medium. Once it’s bubbly, golden brown and smelling delicious, pour into a heatproof bowl.
Leave to cool in the fridge for 20 minutes or until it reaches a spreadable consistency.

Now, to make the batter for the cupcakes.
Line two 12 hole cupcake trays with paper lines. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5 or 170 degrees fan.

 Place the caster sugar and light brown sugar into a bowl. Add in the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda.

Then, add in the remaining 60 grams of softened butter. Crack in the eggs and add the now cooled brown butter.

Beat everything together for 1 minute or until a smooth batter is formed.
Pour in the milk and beat again. Stir in the chopped chocolate.

Fill the paper cases two-thirds full with the batter.
Take the frozen cookie dough out of the freezer. Slice it in half, and put one half back into the freezer.
Slice the half into 24 equal sized chunks, and place on top of each of the cupcakes.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until they spring back when touched. Leave to cool in the tray for 5 minutes and then completely cool on a wire rack.

While they cool, make the buttercream. Place the butter in a large bowl, and beat for 5 minutes until creamy and smooth.

Add the sifted icing in two stages, beating well after each addition.

Stir the milk and vanilla together, and pour in. If using the seeds of a vanilla pod, add them in now.
Beat again for 5 minutes until the buttercream is really pale and creamy.

Once the cupcakes are cool, put the buttercream into a piping bag and pipe a little onto each cake. You could also blob on the icing with a spoon.

Take the frozen cookie dough out of the freezer, and slice into 24 equal chunks. Place one over each cupcake.
Serve immediately otherwise the cookie dough will melt.
A tip is to put on the cookie dough just before you’re about to serve.

Enjoy!

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Wasalaam!


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