Slutty Cupcakes

Eek! It's been 2 days shy of a month since I last posted. Thankfully, what I have for you today consists of 3 layers of decadence. Following the slutty brownie trend that swarmed the Internet earlier this year I was inspired to transform these beauties into cupcakes. Unfortunately, I don't have any good quality pictures to show of them, so you'll have to trust me on this one!

The traditional slutty brownie begins with a layer of gooey chocolate chip cookie, followed by Oreos that have been topped with your favorite brownie recipe. In the cupcake, I decided to switch it up a bit. I used a brownie base and inserted a chilled ball of eggless chocolate chip cookie dough, so that while the brownie-cake baked, the dough warmed up and became perfectly gooey and not quite all the way done. Lastly, I went with a buttercream frosting with crushed Oreos mixed in, and then topped it all off with a whole Oreo! Whew! And along the way, I learned that brownie-based cupcakes aren't meant to be cooked using muffin/cupcake liners unless being served while still hot and easy to peel from the liner. So spray up your muffin tin and give it a good dusting with flour!

I foresee many permutations of the Slutty Brownie to comes, so check back for variations based on the infamous peanut butter & chocolate combination, as well as mint and chocolate duo.

For the brownie base, I used this recipe. I found mine took longer to cook (because there was a chilled ball of dough in the center, but of course) than recommended, so you'll want to stay close to the oven and take them out frequently to test them with a toothpick. I would say take them out when the toothpick still comes out a little gooey. Just like with regular brownies, you don't want the toothpick perfectly cool or for the brownies to look all the way cooked when they come out of the oven, otherwise once they'll cool, you'll find they've been overcooked and dry! Also important for the brownie base and the chocolate chip cookie dough is to not entirely sub out the AP flour with whole wheat flour without playing around with the wet ingredient ratio, too. Even if it's white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour, you'll find the texture is off if you do a full swap!

For the hidden chocolate chip cookie dough ball, I used another of Jen's recipes! Since this recipe's proportions is meant for a batch of mini-cupcakes, I ended up with too much batter (and that was with eating a lot of it). Easy solution, keep them in the freezer until your next batch of slutty cupcakes. Or, if you feel a craving coming on, move them from the freezer to the fridge and just pop them in.. not that I'm speaking from experience, or anything.

Lastly, the frosting! I used this recipe from the famous Magnolia Bakery in NYC, scaled to 3/4 instead of a full batch. However, because the cupcakes are so sweet to begin with (and I have a sweet tooth not to be reckoned with) AND you are going to be adding in crushed Oreos, I would recommend starting out on the low end of the sugar scale. As for how many Oreos you want, start with 6-8 Oreos and go with what your tastebuds' instinct!

Alright, drooling yet? Get to the kitchen! I promise to be back to you later this week with some peanut butter banana muffins and then later this month with PB & Choco Slutty Brownies!