Cookie Dough Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes - FOOD PHOTO SHOOT

gringalicious (78)in #photography • 5 years ago

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So it's the sad day after Christmas that is always so bittersweet.

Although, I'm feeling pretty excited for the new year. What about you?Do you have any fun plans or goals? Well, to start with, let's talk about this recipe that you should definitely make for your big end of the year celebration!

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Uh huh, yep….I did it, I went there!…..and there’s some serious cookie dough/chocolate craziness goin’…. down …..today!

I’m going to assume that you’re all familiar with what a hi-hat cupcake is, no? Basically, they’re cupcakes that have had their frosting dipped and coated in chocolate to create the most drool-worthy “hi-hats” on top that you see here. But I couldn’t just stop there. No, I took that concept and then put it with my favorite classic chocolate cake recipe and stuffed it with cookie dough! Like I said, dangerous…….

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Okay, and just a quick note to any of you who are serious enough about your lives to actually make these. I want to be up front and let you know that getting the perfect dip over the frosting is a bit more challenging than it may look and my biggest tips would be too make sure you get the frosting is stiff first and also be sure to get the cupcakes as solidly cold as possible before you dip them.

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Bring on the cookie dough!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Hi-Hat Cupcakes

Ready to make all your childhood cookie dough dreams come true? Well these cupcakes are here to help!

Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Chilling Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons sunflower oil or preferred oil
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup all purpose flour
Frosting:
1 cup (2 15-ounce cans) aquafaba (liquid from a can of garbanzo beans)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons molasses
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup mini dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips
Cookie Dough Filling:
3 tablespoons vegan butter melted
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup dairy free mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Coating:
1 1/2 cups dairy free semi-sweet chocolate
2 1/2 tablespoons sunflower oil or preferred oil

Instructions

Chocolate Cupcakes:
First make sure to clear some space in your fridge or freezer for chilling a tray of cupcakes and in a small glass stir the apple cider vinegar into the coconut milk.
Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C) and combine oil and sugar in large mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Add vinegar/coconut milk and mix in salt, vanilla, and soda, then cocoa powder and flour and stir until batter is just smooth (don't over mix).

Line a 12-count cupcake pans with paper or silicone liners (I recommend the silicone)( or you can just grease and flour the pan). Divide batter among them, filling each cup about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 22 - 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in centers.

Cool for at least 5 minutes then loosen cupcakes from pan and place on a wire rack to finish cooling. After about 30 minutes place the cupcakes on a plate or tray and put it in the fridge to chill for at least an hour (you can put them in the freezer instead to speed up the chilling).
Cookie Dough:
Stir butter and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until combined. Add applesauce, salt, and vanilla and mix well. Add 2 cups of flour and stir until it starts to come together into a smooth dough (you can use your hands at this point to form it together. Mix in chocolate chips and divide the dough into 12 balls and place them in fridge to chill while you finish the frosting.

Marshmallow Frosting:
Pour the aquafaba into a small saucepan and set over medium high heat until it comes to a boil. Once boiling reduce to simmer and allow it to reduce for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately add the sugar and stir to dissolve.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, start beating the aquafaba mixture and cream of tartar on high speed for about 7-10 minutes until soft peaks form. Now add the molasses, vanilla, almond, and salt and beat on high until stiff peaks form. At this point it should be very stiff and hold its shape well.

Continue beating until it turns into a fluffy dream of a frosting. At this point carefully fold in chocolate chips with a rubber spatula and place frosting bowl in fridge until needed.

Assemble:
Remove cupcakes from fridge and use a sharp serrated edge knife to cut the centers out of each (about 1 inch down), being careful not to cut all the way through. You're making a spot for the dough balls. Now take the dough balls out of fridge and place them in the centers of cupcakes and then gently press and sort of mold the cut-out pieces on to top of them. They will be tall and ugly but you're going to put lots of frosting on top.
Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a fat round tip, with your frosting. Pipe the frosting in spirals on top of each cupcake and do your best to surround the mounds. Place frosted cakes back in fridge or freezer now and chill for at least 20 minutes while you get ready to coat them. The longer they chill the easier they will be to coat.
Melt chocolate with oil in a double boiler until smooth then remove from heat and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes before coating cupcakes. Scrape the chocolate into a tall 1 quart measuring cup or storage container (or anything tall enough to allow for a deep dip, a wide glass will work.).

When you're ready, remove cupcakes from fridge again and you are going to carefully invert them and dip straight down into the chocolate and pull gently straight up, twirling the cake slightly to get each side to allow excess to drip off. Place back on tray and repeat until they are all dipped then place tray back in fridge and chill until coating is hardened, about 5 minutes.

It's best to serve as soon as possible but they should last for at least 48 hours just fine. If storing in fridge for more than a few hours though, you'll want to put them in a sealed container.

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D750 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST.