Chocolate Cupcake Cookies inspired by Hostess® Cupcakes

Cookies

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Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand mixer with paddle attached, add in butter, salt and C&H® Light Brown Sugar. Mix on medium/high speed for three minutes until it becomes lighter in color and fluffy.

Step 2

Add in both eggs and vanilla and mix for a minute, stop mixer, scrape down sides and mix until incorporated.

 

Step 3

In a medium separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and add it into the sand mixer. Put a kitchen towel over the top of the mixer, hugging it tightly over the bowl to prevent a flour storm and turn on mixer. Mix until flour is combined and stop mixing. Overmixing can make the cookie tough.

 

Step 4

Line a ½ sheet aluminum restaurant grade baking pan with parchment paper. Take an Ice cream scoop, ¼ cup volume, and scoop out each cookie, scraping the rim of the bowl to level off the scoop. Place 6 cookies per sheet, evenly spaced and bake on the middle rack for 11-12 minutes.

 

Step 5

While cookies are baking, take another ½ sheet baking pan and put a layer if ice cubes on it. Once the cookies come out of the oven, place the baked cookie sheet directly on top of the sheet with Ice. This will quickly cool the cookies and stop the cookies from baking further on the sheet. Immediately after putting cookies on the ice, Take the back of a Tablespoon and press in directly on the center of the cookie and press down, creating a cavity for our filling. Don’t press through the cookie all the way to the bottom, just make an indentation to hold the filling.

 

Step 6

Take a large cookie cutter, larger than the cookies baked, and swirl it around the cookie to bring it in tight and round. These steps will only work right out of the oven, once cookies cool, they set and cannot be re-shaped. Allow cookies to cool completely before adding filling. Once the next sheet of cookies comes out of the oven, move the chilled cookie sheet to a wire rack and continue until all cookies are baked and cooled.

 

Filling

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Step 1

Use a heatproof medium bowl over 2 inches of simmering water as a double boiler. Don’t let the bowl touch the water. Whisk together egg whites, C&H® Granulated Sugar and cream of tartar until it's white and frothy and reaches 160 degrees F. The sugar granules should be completely dissolved.

 

Step 2

Take the egg whites off heat and immediately whip on high speed for 5 minutes until stiff peaks form and add in vanilla extract and mix.

 

Step 3

Take a pastry bag and add filling. Cut a hole in the bottom. Pipe filling in center cavity of cookie and place in refrigerator to chill.

 

Chocolate Ganache

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Step 1

In a small heat safe bowl, add in chocolate and heavy cream. Microwave or heat over double boiler until the chocolate is melted to a smooth and creamy texture. In microwave, start off at 30 seconds and then again in 15 second increments until its completely melted, stirring in-between.

 

Step 2

Grab chilled, filled cookies. Take a spoon and add ganache directly over the filling, evenly in a thin layer so the filling is hidden. Gently shake the cookie from side to side to help settle ganache. Put cookies back into refrigerator to chill after they are covered in ganache.

 

Topping

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Step 1

In another small heat safe bowl, add in white chocolate and heavy cream. Microwave or heat over double boiler until the chocolate is melted to a smooth and creamy texture. Add in powdered sugar and mix until the mixture is thicker. Add in white icing color to make it bright white to offset the yellow of the white chocolate.

 

Step 2

Put topping into a pastry bag, cut a small hole in the bottom and pipe on the chilled cookies. Start on one edge of the cookie in the middle and pipe across and pipe from left to right. Pipe over, down to the right, and then go down towards the left and back up to where you started and repeat across the center of the cookie. The topping will firm right up in the refrigerator.