All last week I was thinking hard about what I wanted to cook or bake to celebrate ThatsSoYummy’s 2 year Anniversary.  Of all the recipes that I have shared on ThatsSoYummy I think desserts have to be my favorite.  I think it has to do with my incredible sweet tooth and my love to bake.  Even though there are soooooo many more recipes I have to share with you all I just knew this one was gonna be a hit, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes!

Now can I just say that Boy!!!!!! Were they ever…. They were so good that I ate TWO in one day.  I know greedy, right… but I just couldn’t help myself.  Of course now since I did I have to go cycling for an hour to counter it today but who cares.  These lil babies are sooooooo worth the workout!  I had made extras that i brought them to church and in 5 minutes they were all gone.

I don’t want to ramble on how much ThatsSoYummy means to me and how it has allowed me to meet so many people and the ability to share my love for food… I just want to thank all of you who are amid lovers of ThatsSoYummy and continue to show your support and all of your comments.  I cannot express how much it means to me.  I hope to continue my journey of sharing my recipes and love for all things yummy, and hope to continue to learn from all of you as well.

Happy Sunday!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Recipe from My Baking Addiction

*makes 24 cupcakes*

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
1/2 cup warm water

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine instant espresso granules and warm water, stirring until dissolved. Add espresso mixture to the cake batter and stir until fully incorporated.

Using a cookie scoop distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.

Measure .4 ounce balls of cookie dough (about 1 teaspoon) and drop a ball of dough into each cupcake. Be sure to use a spoon to completely cover the dough ball with batter.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick entered into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

For the Frosting:

Ingredients

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.

Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

For the Garnish:

Garnish your cupcakes with mini semi-sweet chocolate chips and a mini chocolate chip cookie.

To make the mini cookies, I simply measured out 24 .4 ounce (about 1 teaspoon) balls of dough and baked them according to package directions (about 8-10 minutes). Allow mini cookies to cool completely before adding them to the cupcakes.

So the countdown is upon us for celebrating Halloween.  Do you need to bring something sweet and tasty to your son or daughters school?

I know I do.

If your in a jam and don’t have a lot of time here is a great opportunity to buss out the cupcake tin and whip up a batch of yummy Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.  At the end, you get to top it off with a little surprise of candy love, that’s right candy corn love.

SO….. hop, skip, or jump in the kitchen and start baking, your kids will love it!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

(From Real Simple)

1 18.5-ounce box yellow cake mix (plus the ingredients called for in the package directions)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
2 8-ounce bars cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
24 pieces candy corn

Heat oven to 350° F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. Prepare the cake mix as directed but with the following change: Add the pumpkin pie spice and substitute the can of pumpkin puree for the water called for in the package directions.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Spread on the cupcakes and top each with a piece of candy corn.

If baking is not your thing but helping others is then I have to let you in on this little thing called Bake For the Cure.  We all know that October is Breast Cancer awareness and we also know that this is a disease that is hitting all our women.

For those of us who really dont look at ourselves as maters in the baking arena there is an alternatuve way to assist in this tremendous fight against cancer.

Bake For the Cure allows you to login on their website and share recipes. Every time you upload a recipe to their website, ten cents will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Ten cents will also be donated for each recipe you share with friends. If you enjoy baking and are looking for a new recipe to try, browse their yummy recipes on Bake For the Cure.

Support the Cause!

(Image: Rose Petals Cakery)

Have any of you had the chance to see the new film, “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs” yet?

If not I fully understand, I haven’t either due to my schedule being completely busy with caterings and events but that doesn’t mean we can’t still weep in the excitement of these cute little meatball cupcakes.  

In honor of celebrating the premiere of the movie these cuties were prepared by Rose Petals Cakery of Naperville, Illinois, for a client who wanted to treat a group of kids to eat after seeing the movie.  

The spaghetti is buttercream, the meatball is Ferrero Rocher candy, the sauce is raspberry jam mixed with buttercream and the parmesan is grated white chocolate.  I think that sounds Yummy!

We’ve already seen cupcake mini sliders, so why not cupcake meatballs…. I wonder what will be next?

Who doesn’t LOVE cupcakes, especially big full of icing dripping down cupcakes.  

What about if you saw this humongous gigantic cupcake… wouldn’t you just want to dive right in.  I know I would.

Well just imagine it possible to have a 1,224 pound triple vanilla cupcake with pink frosting standing in front of you. YUMMY!

This sugary treat was unveiled Saturday at the Woodward Dream Cruise classic cars event in Royal Oak, Michigan.

This cupcake has surpassed the previous Guinness World Record holder by eight times in girth.  It stood 4 feet tall and spanned 11 feet around, and was created by Ryan Abood, owner of Manchester, New Hampshire based GourmetGiftBaskets.com. It required 800 eggs, 200 pounds each of sugar and flour, five days of preparation, and 12 hours of baking time.

Wowzer!!!!!

Slices of the cupcake were served in exchange for donations to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer organization.

Ok, so just when I think Bakerella can’t come up with anything else that is adorable she blows me away and completely tops herself.  Above she has created a great Father’s Day treat for all those wonderful dads out there.

According to Bakerella Cupcake Buns + Brownie Burgers + Cookie Fries = “One Happy Meal!”

Just some good ol’ fashion bite size cuties, how could you resist!

I definitely think adding these sugar cookie fries and the fast food father’s day template for the presentation just brought this whole ensemble together beautifully.

Kudos to Bakerella, again with a wonderful creation

Oh and Happy Father’s Day to all the Daddy’s!

• One in nine American Families are on Food Stamps  —  Reuters

• A little fish sauce in a bottle can “bring great flavor”  —  Seattle Times

• Why cupcakes aren’t going anywhere anytime soon —  Los Angeles Times

• Eating with your eyes, how food stylists style food for photos —  Boston Globe

• Fast and Easy Dinner: Mexican Lasagna —  Miami Herald

Let me ask you all this question… “Are They Cupcakes Or Mini Sliders?”  What do you think.

Well if you answered a mini burger “slider” you are WRONG!  Don’t feel bad because I was fooled as well.

There cupcakes and they are some of the cutest designs I have seen. Created by Smiley’s Sweets and Creations, the buns are vanilla cupcakes, the burgers are bits of chocolate cupcake, the lettuce is shredded coconut, and ketchup and mustard are red and yellow icing.

I came across these little creations while visiting one of my favorite sites, Tastespotting.