Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownie Cupcakes

It only takes one look at the recipe to conclude that these are not exactly "light" in the dessert category. Using a total of four sticks of butter, these are just about the least diet-friendly treat you can make. The one thing they've got going for them? They're small, and since they're "cupcakes," you have built-in portion control.

Oh, and they're delicious. That should be obvious, right? Brownie + cookie dough is just about as good as it gets.

Bonus: After frosting all of the brownies, I had a decent amount of leftover egg-less cookie dough. And who would ever complain about having THAT in the fridge? A spoonful here, a spoonful there... awesome.

This recipe makes quite a few mini cupcakes. And mine were bigger than traditional "minis"--I bought the mini Reynolds foil liners that are much smaller than a cupcake, but don't fit in a mini-cupcake pan. For me, this made approximately 40 mini cupcakes. I'm bringing a bunch with me to my sister-in-law's tomorrow, then the rest are coming with me to work on Monday!

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownie Cupcakes
(Source: Beantown Baker)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups cocoa
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-2 cups mini chocolate chips

Cookie Dough Frosting:
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/3 cups mini chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place mini cupcake liners in pan.

2. In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, just until it's hot, but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

3. Transfer the sugar mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl, if you've heated it in a saucepan. Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla.

4. Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth.

5. Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth.

6. Spoon the batter into mini cupcake pan.

7. Bake the brownies for about 8-10 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked.

8. Remove them from the oven and cool completely on a rack.

For cookie dough frosting:
Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in milk. With mixer on low, add flour and mix until well combined. Stir in mini chocolate chips.

To assemble:
Pipe or spread the cookie dough frosting onto the cooled mini cupcakes. Chill the brownies until the cookie dough is firm. Serve at room temperature.