Buzz: January Baking

I'll be updating you throughout the year as I check things off my 2011 To-Do List... and one thing on my list is: bake one item a month!!! I realized about 1 year after insisting on buying a Kitchen Aid Mixer that I hadn't used it very much. So, I wanted to make sure that I used it this year.

First up: A recipe I found at Homemade by Holman:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes 

adapted from Annie’s Eats

Cupcake:

Here's Homemade by Holman's final product --
much prettier than mine ;-)

1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened

1 ½ cups light brown sugar, firmly packed

4 eggs

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 cup whole milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 muffin pans with liners. Combine the butter and sugar in mixing bowl, beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir together vanilla and milk in a measuring cup. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter, mix at low speed. Alternate adding flour mixture in 3 parts with ½ of the milk; beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix each addition until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop the batter evenly into prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 to ¾ of the way full. Bake about 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan about 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

I'll admit it... I kept eating the icing.
It was incredible!

Frosting: 

1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

½ tsp salt

3 T whole milk

2 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Extra chocolate chips for decoration if desired

Beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the powdered sugar, mixing on low speed, until smooth. Add in the flour and salt and beat on low speed until incorporated. Add the milk and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe frosting on to cooled cupcakes as desired. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top if desired.

Here's my final product! I didn't have any
cupcake paper, so they just did without.

I absolutely loved these cupcakes. They were amazing, and so much fun to make! And my office mates seemed to appreciate it. I can't wait until baking again this month (and with Valentine's day coming up, I think I won't have to search for an excuse to bake).