Monday, March 16, 2015

Triple Cookie Butter Cupcakes

If you haven't had Cookie Butter you don't know what you're missing. Also called Biscoff or Speculoos, it's a must try. By far one of the most amazing and addicting things ever invented. It's been years since I've had some and last week BP and I were out and about and we saw some. He had never had it before and was curious when I said it was life changing good. Even the lady who checked us out at the store said it was amazing. So when we got home that day we are it straight from the jar.....and BP was hooked. Needless to say the jar didn't even make it a week. Pretty much anywhere you use Nutella you can use Cookie Butter. 

And when we were halfway through our jar, I found this amazing recipe. With a couple of tweaks I knew it would be a home run. And sure enough Saturday night was poker at our house - which meant I had to make something, so why not these? 


Ok before you judge, yes that's a lot of cookie butter and cookies. But the cookies were on sale and I knew whatever I didn't use for the cupcakes the cookie butter would get used/eaten. I only used two jars of the cookie butter and a package and a half of the cookies. 



Let me tell you these things are amazing. A huge hit with everyone who ate them. And if you're not a fan of a lot of frosting you can take the cookie and eat some of the frosting that way. 


Triple Cookie Butter Cupcakes
24 cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour 
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt 
  • 12 tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup milk
  • 24 speculoos cookies broken in half
  • 1 1/2 cups cookie butter

    For the Frosting:

    2 cups butter room temperature 

    1 1/2 Cups Speculoos Cookie Butter

    6 Cups powdered sugar

    6 Tbsp Milk

  • Speculoos cookies for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Line cupcake pans with liners and place half a cookie into each one, set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, mix in vanilla.
  5. Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down the bowl- don't over mix the batter.
  6. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 5 minutes and then remove from pan. Let cupcakes cool completely.
  7. Use a paring knife to core a small little but out of each cupcake and fill with a small dollop of cookie butter. 

    For Frosting:
  1. Cream together the butter and cookie butter. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until thick. Add milk and mix on high until smooth and creamy. 
  2. Spread or pipe onto the cooled and filled cupcakes and top with speculoos cookie.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Gooey S'mores Cookies

I love S'mores, it's not really a secret at this point anymore. Anytime I see a recipe for anything dealing with it, I have to make it. Shocker I know. So when I saw these cookies I knew I had to try them. If they were going to be anywhere near the S'mores Cookies I make all the time, then these would be a great addition to my collection. 

With an impromptu day off from work Thursday due to snow, I was at a loss with what to do. BP left for work early and was already at work by the time it really started to snow heavily. So I was home with nothing to do - which meant baking would happen during the day. 


I love me some cookie dough and this is delicious. Always a good sign of a good cookie. 


Yum yum yum. I will say these are delicious - and extremely easier than the other version I make. A good tip is to make sure that you have no marshmallows on the edges of the cookies. If you do they will melt during the baking process. Just stick them ontop of the cookie or cover them with some dough and they will be perfect. 

I put these out for a game night we had and they didn't last long. Always a good sign. 

Gooey S’mores Cookies

Makes 4 dozen cookies 


Ingredients 


1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 2/3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
2 cups mini marshmallows


Directions


1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 


2.  Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes.


3.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together. 


4.  Add the chocolate chips and mix until chips are evenly distributed. Add the marshmallows and stir by hand - if you mix in a mixer the marshmallows get torn and squished. 


5.  Using your cookie scoop or a large spoon, place 1.5 tablespoon sized scoops of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.