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Cookie Dough Cupcakes are for cookie dough lovers only! If you’re in love with eating raw cookie dough then this is the cupcake recipe for you: chocolate cupcakes with cookie dough baked in, a brown sugar frosting that tastes like cookie dough, and edible cookie dough on top. Whew, that’s a mouthful…of delicious cupcake.
I am obsessed with cookie dough! In fact, whenever I make chocolate chip cookies I just want to eat the dough (and I do, when I make edible cookie dough). These chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes combine all of my favorite things: cookies, chocolate cupcakes, and cookie dough all in one.
The key to making cookie dough cupcakes that taste authentic is to use an egg-free cookie dough with heat treated flour. Using this allows the cookie dough to be safe to eat raw. Along with the fluffy brown sugar frosting and rich chocolate cupcake, this recipe will be your new favorite. I took them to book club and everyone thought they were from a bakery!
This post has been updated to fit better; if you’re looking for cookie dough frosting, that’s the old post that used to be here.
Cookie Dough Cupcake Ingredients
- You can make life easy by using a box of chocolate cake mix (or use yellow cake mix) or make my cupcakes from scratch. If you vanilla cookie dough cupcakes, use my perfect vanilla cupcake recipe.
- To make my chocolate cupcake recipe from scratch you’ll need the usual cupcake ingredients: all-purpose flour, salt, vanilla, and vegetable oil. These cupcakes are egg-free and use vinegar and baking soda to make them rise and be super moist. Use only unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process).
- The cookie dough is an egg free dough with pasteurized flour. It’s my classic chocolate chip cookie recipe minus the egg (use milk instead) and you can omit the baking soda since we don’t need them to spread.
- Mini chocolate chips are important because we’re making small balls of dough and that way there is chocolate in every bite.
- The frosting is brown sugar frosting with butter, brown sugar, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
Dorothy’s Testing Notes for Cookie Dough Cupcakes
- To heat treat your flour you’ll want to bake it on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes at 350°F, then let it cool.
- This makes 12 cupcakes, so be sure you get 24 balls of cookie dough (12 for inside the cupcakes and 12 for garnish).
- Don’t overfill the cupcake liners; this cupcake batter bakes more out than up (like a muffin).
- Because the cupcakes are leavened with baking soda, you cannot use Dutch Process Cocoa (the acid in baking soda will negatively react with the cocoa). The hot water is to bloom the cocoa and make it richer tasting.
- When making the frosting, any kind of milk or nondairy milk may be used.
Cookie Dough Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
Filling:
- ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons (38g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (93g) all-purpose flour, heat-treated
- ¾ cup (128g) mini chocolate chips
Cupcakes:
- 1 cup (100g) all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup (167g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons (15g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅔ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup (158ml) hot water or hot coffee
- ¼ cup (59ml) vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
- 1 ½ cups (339g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons (38g) packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons (45ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups (339g) powdered sugar
Instructions
Make the Filling:
- Stir melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a medium bowl. Add milk and salt and stir, then stir in flour. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop 12 1-tablespoon balls of dough onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Divide the remaining dough into 12 balls for topping the cupcakes. Chill until cupcake batter is ready.
Make the Cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line cupcake tins with liners.
- Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- Whisk hot water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla in a large measuring cup.
- Add liquid ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk until smooth.
- Divide batter among liners, filling approximately half full. Add one cookie dough ball to each cupcake, pressing lightly to mostly have it covered with batter.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool before frosting.
Make the Frosting:
- Beat the butter until smooth in a large bowl or stand mixer. Add brown sugar and beat until creamy and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
- Add vanilla, heavy whipping cream and salt and mix until combined.
- Reduce mixer to medium-low speed and while mixer is running, slowly add powdered sugar and mix until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Then increase the mixer to medium-high and beat until fluffy and light, about 5 minutes.
- Frost cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with extra mini chocolate chips and/or a mini cookie.
Notes
- To make heat treated flour, spread flour on a baking sheet in an even layer and bake at 350°F for 5 minutes. Let cool completely before using in the recipe.
- You can use whole milk or half and half in place of heavy cream if needed.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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How to make Cookie Dough Cupcakes
- Stir together cookie dough ingredients. The dough will be a soft dough.
- Be sure to divide the dough into 24 pieces.
- Whisk dry ingredients to get rid of lumps.
SAVE THIS RECIPE
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- Whisk the wet ingredients.
- The cupcake batter will be thin.
- Fill liners half full.
- Add a cookie dough ball.
- Mix butter and brown sugar together until the sugar almost dissolves.
- You know you’ve added enough cream or milk when the frosting is spreadable.
