Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
A few things:
I’m addicted to Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory on MTV. The show has no real redeeming qualities, unless you count riding a rhinoceros, forcing Justin Bieber to drive a go kart up a ramp into a pit of foam blocks, or beaming people in the head with dodge balls. But somehow, it just speaks to me.
I’ve started fast forwarding the parts on Idol where Steven Tyler talks. I mean, I love the man, but I spend a good hour trying to decipher his sayings.
Jon David and I have a date to pie each other in the face. It’s sort of a life long dream of mine.
Another lifelong dream of mine? Eating at Cheesecake Factory. The closest one is in Tulsa, which is roughly 2 1/2 hours away, which seems like an awfully long drive just to go eat, according to my husband. Apparently he missed the Lifelong Dream part. Besides, I told him if it bothered him THAT bad, we could go to the mall and stuff too while we were there. I’m already trying to plan what I’m going to eat. This is a big deal. Suggestions?
Please don’t suggest anything remotely healthy. I’d really hate to ruin my Lifelong Dream Moment.
Another thing? I made Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes.
My original Cookies and Cream Cupcake recipe is my most popular, so I decided that a chocolate version needed to happen. I make a few changes to the original filling so it’s thicker this time.
Another change I made is the frosting. Besides making it CHOCOLATE with crushed cookies, I also…
…gave it a dip in a thin chocolate shell.
Let’s review.
Cookie bottom. Chocolate Cupcake. Cream filling. Chocolate and crushed cookie frosting. Dipped in chocolate shell.
This is not a cupcake that cuts corners.
Serve them to people you want to impress. Or people you are angry at. Remember Being Mean By Being Nice? It’s a thing.
Don’t be daunted by the long list of instructions. They’re all very simple steps and make for a very impressive cupcake.Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
- 1 box Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix, plus eggs, oil, and water needed to prepare
- 24 Chocolate Sandwich Cookies (like Oreos)
- Filling:
- 13 oz jar Marshmallow Creme (or Fluff)
- 1/2 stick (4 TBS) butter, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- Frosting:
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon hot water
- Chocolate Shell:
- 2 cups milk chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup vegetable shortening
- Mini cookies or chocolate sprinkles, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin tins with paper liners. Add a cookie to the bottom of each liner.
2. Prepare batter according to box directions. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter and bake for about 12-15 minutes, until tops spring back when lightly touched. Place on a wire rack until cool.
3. While cupcakes cool, make filling: In the bowl of a mixer, combine marshmallow creme, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat on medium high until light and fluffy. Fill cooled cupcakes by either cutting a hole in the top with a small knife and spooning it in, OR piping it in with a disposable piping bag and Bismark Tip.
4. Once cupcakes are cooled and filled, prepare frosting: In the bowl of your mixer, combine butter and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder, beating on low until just combined. Add hot water and beat on high for about a minute. Fold in cookie crumbs. Pipe frosting on cupcakes, or frost with butter knife or spatula. Place cupcakes in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill.
5. Chocolate Shell: Place chocolate chips and shortening in a medium-large microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Dip frosting part of cupcakes in the melted chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. Immediately top with mini cookies and sprinkles. Wait until chocolate is set before serving.
Notes:
If you’re going to pipe the frosting on high, you’ll want to double the frosting recipe.
Alternatively, you could use your favorite homemade chocolate cake recipe.
You can purchase a Bismark Tip for filling cupcakes HERE
Enjoy and have a happy Thursday!!
Thanks for visiting my blog! I realize you could be doing more important things with your time. Like watching the news or washing socks. I hope you stay awhile. Much more fun than socks, I promise. 
Kristan you outdid yourself in the best way! WOW! And I love the huge, domed, massive frosting amounts. Just the way I like things; a little food with my frosting!
2 1/2 hours to drive to Cheesecake Factory is worth it…especially if you do shopping too:-) It is my all time favorite restaurant…just talking about it makes me want to drive the hour to get to the one closest to me. Right now my favorite dish is the Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta! Love the new chocolate cookies and cream version…more chocolate is always better in my mind!!!
Oh hunny…what are you doing to me!? These look to die for! P.S. Cheesecake Factory totally warrants a 2 1/2 hour drive. Their menu is like 12 pages and the entire back page is devoted to the more than 15 cheesecake flavors they have. It’s the first page I look at…naturally.
Oh I love the cheesecake factory!! You should definitely try the avocado eggroll things. They are amazing!!! And maybe get a sample of each cheesecake?? haha I wish! These cupcakes look great!
I can’t wait to tell you everything I love about Cheesecake Factory! The other day I got legitimately upset with my friend for failing to mention her free cheesecake gift cards AFTER we ate at a crappy restaurant. Anyway. I get the Crusted Chicken Romano and it is my favorite chicken dish….anywhere…ever. So yummy! I also love their steak. Their menu is a gazillion pages long, the restaurant decor is fancy (I live by 4 of them within 20 minutes!)
Now let’s talk cheesecake. You are going to have to buy a few slices to take home with you. I’ve done it and it is worth the judging your husband may do. Their Adam’s Peanut Butter Fudge Ripple (and ten other words) cheesecake is LIFE CHANGING. I also highly recommend Snickers, Hershey’s, Tuxedo, and Strawberry.
My favorite holiday ever? National Cheesecake day…which they celebrate with buy one get one half off. HECK YES.
Sorry for the long multi part comment. I am just that serious about their cheesecake.
Oh my gosh, yum!! How fun are these cupcakes?? Love it!!
Such a shame your cheesecake factory is so far away….ours is a lovely 20 minutes. :-) If you’re a fan of buffalo chicken I recommend the buffalo chicken blasts (or something like that, lol), SO good!
OH how I love the cheesecake factory. I always get either the Chicken Costaletta, or Farfalle with Chicken and Garlic. Both are bomb. Cheesecake I love the Key Lime Pie Chhesecake, and the Cookie Dough Cheesecake. I can’t wait to hear about your experience after you finally talk your hubby into taking you!!
For 10 years I lived in a remote mining town in far north Western Australia. We would drive for over 2 hours each way to do our shopping and take the kids for fish and chips and a swim at the beach. We don’t have Cheesecake Factory’s in Australia but I’m guessing by the comments and your post it would be well worth the drive. Three months ago we moved 2 hours to a larger town that now has a few restaurants. It’s great to have a choice now, however, the people here are no where near as friendly. No-one knocked on my door with a welcome hamper either!
Chicken Cassoletta is the way to go at the Cheesecake Factory…they serve thinly breaded chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and asparagus….and cheesecake is great, but the 7 layer chocolate cake is the best!! I buy a WHOLE chocolate cake every January for my son’s birthday….he’s 24 now! There is a chocolate cake with walnuts on the outside and one with chocolate chips on the outside…so decisions, decisions!! Love your blog…and recipes…and by the way, how do you stay so thin?? I have hips to prove that I’m a good baker!! lol
Ok, so I just gotta tell ya…I WORK AT THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY! After school I needed a job ASAP, so I figured where better to work than my favorite restaurant?? If we work double shifts, the restaurant buys us a free meal or a slice of cheesecake. Naturally, I choose cheesecake 9/10 times.
As far as suggestions…you MUST try the buffalo blasts and the avocado egg rolls for appetizers. The chipotle chicken pasta is to die for, but every employee I’ve ever met likes the Louisana chicken pasta the best. For cheesecake, the hands-down best one ever is the Dulce de Leche cheesecake. We sell out of it all the time. I promise, you won’t regret it!
P.S. your blog rocks. And you’re hysterical. Keep it up!
Holy yum!!! These look like perfection in every single way. Mmm!
OMG! These look Awesome.
Thank You.
I so enjoy all your recipes
ColleenB.
That huge mound of frosting topped with a chocolate shell looks out of this world!
I wish I lived next door to you and that you always called on your next door neighbor to come over and try out your new creations. Those cupcakes look heavenly….
As for the Cheesecake factory, the nearest one to my house is 5 hours away in Minneapolis, so I rarely get to eat there, but when I do I don’t pay that much attention to the main meal, I’m too busy drooling over the dessert. When I had surgery last year, my daughter came to visit and brought a box of several different cheesecakes to cheer me up (it did!) and I would say that my favorite was the carrot cake cheesecake, but all are awesome.
You all must have good cheesecake factories near you. I thought their food was bland and highly overpriced. I wouldn’t waste a trip to go there if you paid me.
The Cheesecake Factory IS incredible. You will have a life changing experience there. You MUST order the Avocado Eggrolls for an appetizer. They are probably the single best thing on the menu! The Spicy Cashew Chicken is my all time favorite entree. Make sure you have a way to handle leftovers, a cooler maybe? The dish is so incredibly good but they give you way too much food. It would be a flat out crime to throw away a single morsel of Spicy Cashew Chicken so you really need a way to store it. I have never had a bad piece of cheesecake there but I must say the Hershey’s one (can’t remember the name) is just too rich for my taste. I love the Pineapple Upside-down cheesecake, the Reese’s, and the raspberry lemon something or other the best. Have a great time!!!
My daughter’s comment when she saw the pictures: “Those look yummy. How do I get my hands on one of those?” When I told her I could make them, she was filled with gladness and joy. You’ve created a corner of happiness in our house today.
These cupcakes are beautiful thing.
Now onto the Cheesecake Factory…the menu is GINORMOUS. It will straight up take you 30 minutes to decide what to get. I would say look at an online menu so you can go in educated. As for cheesecake…I would say go for anything with cheesecake in it. Oh wait…um…yeah, I’m no help, so you should definitely get 3 or four slices. I mean, it’s a long drive.
These are fantastic! Too much goodness in one cupcake!
I used to make a point of going to Cheesecake Factory whenever I traveled somewhere that had one. I was obsessed! Now that we have one here in Nashville (finally!), I can go whenever I want. But sadly dont get there near as often as I’d like. Anyway, I always start with the fried macaroni and cheese for an appetizer, it’s killer! Then I almost always get the spicy cashew chicken, and save half of it for lunch the next day. Then, I finish the experience with the Godiva chocolate cheesecake. To. Die. For. They also have a raspberry martini that is the best I’ve ever had. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was $11, which is a little pricey – but it is by far the best martini I’ve ever had, so it was worth it!
Cookies and cream is one of my favorite flavors!
That looks delicious!
Oh and at The Cheesecake Factory you have to eat the buffalo chicken wontons. They are to die for. I always get a salad because they are ginormous so I have no suggestions for your entree.
I am sad that you have to go so far for a Cheesecake Factory :( Here are my suggestions:
Brownie Sundae Cheesecake
The Navajo (sandwich)
Grilled Shrimp and Bacon Club
Corn cakes (app)
Stuffed chicken Tortillas (comes with corn cakes)
Great! ;O/ now I want Cheesecake Factory :O) I always get the Thai Lettuce Wraps (which are supposed to be an appetizer but I get it for dinner)sooooo good! Its a big plattetr of deconstructed wraps. chicken strips cooked ina peanut sauce , lettuce to wrap , shredded carrots, sweet pickled cucumbers, coconut noodles , bean sprouts and 3 saucesa to construct your own wraps. Yes it has lettuce in the name but it is not too healthy… and I always end with a slice of Adams Peanut butter cup cheesecake (chocolate crust (oreo cookie crust) , peanut butter cups, butterfingers, cheesecake, peanutbutter & hot fudge icing. 12000 calories of pure goodness
Such fun cupcakes! Love!
Oh, my, wow. I am feeling a bit like Steven Tyler, not knowing how to put a thought together. Cupcake perfection.
You can never go wrong with so much chocolate in a dessert!!! These cupcakes are perfect!
Like several others said. Av0cado Egg Rolls!! I don’t even like avocados, but I love those!
Yes times 5000! I need these today :) Yum!!
I’m also sad that the closest CF is over 3 hours away (I live in AR too) but when I lived in AZ my fave cheesecake from CF was a three-way tie: caramel turtle with pecans, lemon with raspberry and key lime… it depended on the day. :)
As for an entree, I like their Spicy Chicken Chipotle pasta… always split it for lunch tomorrow.
Oh! And don’t forget a cooler or something to bring your leftovers home with, 2 1/2 hour drive is a l-o-n-g way for food to get some nastiness by not keeping chilled. ;) Have fun!
Not sure which I like best your write ups or your recipes….. I am not sure what the problem with driving 2 1/2 hours to go to eat is….well then again maybe all the gas your are wasting, but what is a little gas money when you are going to a great place like the cheesecake factory to go to eat.. I would drive 1000 miles to do that ~~ that is if I could get my hubby even to go out to eat… His idea of eating out is me calling for the food, going to get it, dishing it and me cleaning it up… The best part of eating out is not having to clean up! Haven’t been to the Cheescake Factory for many years, not since I lived in Edmonton, Alberta and that is a lifetime ago… but hopefully you get there and enjoy your meal and the cheesecake!
Going to the Cheesecake Factory is definitely a treat! I love their tropical tea (I’m a big tea fan) and buy the tea bags there so that I can brew some at home. Their food is also pretty good, but really I’m just trying to pick something to eat so that I can get their cheesecake for dessert. (Be warned, their serving sizes are HUGE!!!) My favorite cheesecake flavors are the oreo and tuxedo, but you really can’t go wrong. Oh, and by the way…these cupcakes look terrific!!l
I LOVE Cheesecake Factory! And in the town we’ve been living in it’s impossible to live of we don’t make a trip to the city 3 hours away every few months. I think you should go. I always get the Baja chicken tacos. Delicious! And the banana cheesecake is AMAZING.
The candy shell on the frosting just takes these to the next level!
I need these in my face as soon as possible!!
I know it’s your life long dream, but I’ve eaten at the Cheesecake Factory twice and both times I’ve been disapponited :( …. it crushed me to be honest with you, I wanted to like it soooo much – - but I didn’t :(
I was never a huge fan of cheesecake factory’s food, but honestly who goes there for food you go for the cheesecake! i think the best cheesecake I ever had there was the snickers cheesecake…I dont know if they still have it but it was to die for. And ummm Pie in the Face that sounds AWESOME…as a Three Stooges fan I think thats hilarious, did you see the movie, I was rolling the whole time!
Love that big scoop of icing and then the chocolate shell, oh my stars!
I will drive from south of Houston, Texas to take you to The Cheesecake Factory if you have these waiting when I arrive. :-)
p.s. I have also always had the pie dream, and the opportunity to fulfill it finally presented itself a couple weeks ago, at WOEK of all places! Me + coconut meringue pie + coworker’s face = best day ever.
Ugh, I meant WORK. :-)
Ate at the one in Tulsa just 2 weeks ago! I had the “dinner” BLT salad and it was seriously a whole head of lettuce. And oh so good! But, I had to save room for the cheesecake. Which was delightful! Definately worth my 3 hour and 45 minute trip to Tulsa! And they will box up the leftovers for you!
I can’t wait to try this recipe!
And the drive is oh-so-worth it for The Cheesecake Factory! I swear I’ve sampled at least half of the menu (I’m lucky, I live in an area where we have 3 restaurants). I love the calamari appetizer, the Cajun Chicken “Littles” and the Cajun Jambalaya pasta. The cheesecakes are just too numerous to mention, but my faves are the Dulce de Leche, Kahlua Cocoa Coffee, the Pina Colada and the Godiva Chocolate.
Hmm, now I know where I’m going this weekend :)
YUM!! These look SO good. And I fully warrant the 2 & 1/2 hour drive to the Cheesecake Factory–I’ve driven 2 hours before just to get lunch in the Bay Area! If it’s good, it’s worth it :) plus, like another commenter had said, their menu is seriously like 12 pages long and FULL of really amazing stuff. The raspberry daquiri is THE BOMB and so is the lemon drop, naturally. Also, my boyfriend loves the vanilla bean cheesecake, but I’m partial to the lemon and raspberry ladyfinger one. SO AMAZING!! Have fun!
There’s a day in June or July that’s national cheesecake day and you get a free slice (or discounted slice- I’m not sure which one) from the Cheesecake factory!
I think that should be convincing enough for your hubby to drive out with you! Free cheesecake!
Plus try the dulce de leche cheesecake, or banana cream pie cheesecake. Those two are my absolute favs and so addicting!!
These cupcakes look good! As a fellow River Valley Arkansan, driving 2.5 hours to Cheesecake Factory is worth it. Here’s what I do: I take a cooler with me for extra cheesecake slices to bring home and I never order a main dish. I order the fried macaroni and cheese (it’s an appetizer and it’s delicious) and then I order the Dulce de Leche cheesecake to eat after my macaroni appetizer. Then I purchase extra slices to bring back home! You can’t go wrong with the Dulce de Leche!! Trust me. If we were real life friends I would totally take off work to drive to Tulsa for lunch and then drive home. :)
Now THAT is a cupcake! Wow, no words, just drooling!
I don’t even know where the closest Cheesecake Factory is to us. I have eat at ones a couple times over the years. They have these Avocado Eggrolls that are amazing! I really like one of their salads that comes with onion straws on it. I know you said nothing healthy, but really onion straws on a salad? I am sure it is like 1000 calories :)
While I can’t give cheesecake suggestions since they’re all produced in a facility with peanuts/nuts, I always order the pasta da vinci for dinner. Sautéed chicken, mushrooms, and onions over penne in a wine sauce sprinkled with parmesan cheese – heaven. I also aways order the white bean hummus, which comes with warm flatbread, and usually get full on that before dinner even comes but I can’t help myself. ;-) Oh, and they have my favorite margaritas…I like to get the ultimate one because it’s freaking huge!
This looks like the perfect recipe to use my Bismark tip for the time!
We use to make the three hour drive to Portland to go to Cheesecake Factory and shop at the Washington Square mall a couple of times a month. Now we have to go to San Francisco (a 5 hour drive) once a month for my husbands job and i pretty much only go because we eat at Cheesecake Factory every time (and go to the Fillmore bake shop, but that is beside my point.) I also recommend the avocado egg rolls, and just so you know, the amazing green sauce they bring out with them can be bought by the bottle at the counter. I usually get Eveline’s Favorite Pasta. I especially like the lemon Raspberry cheese cake, but every cheese cake I have had has been good. (and I have tried almost all of them.)
These are some SERIOUS cupcakes.
I have been to the Cheesecake Factory maybe twice in my life. I would have to disagree with almost every post on here. I do NOT think the Cheesecake Factory is worth the drive. I wouldn’t even drive 15 minutes to get to one! Nothing special but over-priced Applebees/Friday’s food.
Now for the Cheesecake, it’s called the Cheesecake Factory so I was expecting to have the most delicous cheesecake of my life, and it was ok. Nothing special. I have purchased the Red Velvet Cheesecake from Sam’s and it was 10x better than the one at the restaurant.
But everyone seems to like it on here so I’m the odd ball. But I didn’t think it was that good. Maybe I ordered the wrong thing not sure, but won’t waste my money to go back and find out!!
Come to mama!
I would love to take you to the cheesecake factory! Should we eat real food, or just cheesecakes??
if i were you I would not even order food at The Cheesecake Factory. Just GET CHEESECAKE!!! SOOoo much better than the “real food” plus by the time you finish the real food you might not be in the right state of mind for dessert….their food is super rich and filling
Drive the 2.5 hours. Totally worth it. You have to try the Stephanie Red Velvet Cheesecake…Oh Ma Gah!!! So gooood! Also, their burgers are delicious and their fried macaroni! Yum! :) Have fun! I look forward to hearing about your trip to cheesecake heaven!!!
Oh the cheesecakey possibilities!! That’s our go-to date restaurant! Also our family ‘something good happened lets go have dinner’ restaurant!! If I’m starving, love the steak Diane, or the pulled pork sandwich. The lettuce wraps are yummilicious, I have them toss them like a salad with the sauce on the side, minus the bean sprouts please! My honey loves the crab cake sandwich, munchkin number one gets the popcorn shrimp and shrimp scampi….little man gets a cheese pizza. The tiramisu cheesecake is amazing!! Oh I’m starving now!
ok…seriously…you are my HERO!!! those cupcakes…I want to eat them off my computer screen right now!!! As for the Cheesecake Factory…anything on that menu is delish…and make sure to have a piece of cheesecake for dessert!!!! Enjoy :)
Holy cow – those look decadent and delicious!
Make sure you get a side of their sweet potato fries. They’re worth the trip, although they could give you a little more in the fancy silver cup they come in!
The Cheesecake Factory’s Godiva cheesecake is pretty much the best thing in existence, but it is super super chocolately and rich! Enjoy!
[...] ever lovely Confessions of a Cookbook Queen created these exorbitantly delicious Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes. Did you notice that the chocolate frosting is dipped in [...]
The Cheesecake Factory is the best place on earth! No lie. It took forever for NC to finally get one. Now we have two! 2 1/2 hours is not too far to drive to one. Go! Everything they have there is out of this world. Whatever you do, try their blue cheese dressing, it is the best! I don’t mean you need to order a salad or some silliness. When you order some type of nacho or southwest egg roll app, ask for some blue cheese to come with it. Then, sort of secretly, eat it with a spoon.
As far as the cheesecakes go, it is hard to go wrong. My total fave is the white chocolate macadamia nut. And the turtle. My husband likes the vanilla bean. it is good too, but seems too plain for me to order.
Congratulations on your baby! Go feed him/her at Cheesecake. They will be born loving you more than the normal baby.
My only suggestion: go early and get there before or shortly after they open. It’s insane.
Ok, that “Only” was a lie. I also highly reccommend the pineapple upside down cake cheesecake. Because it’s pineapple upside down cake. In cheesecake.
I’m whipping these cupcakes up this weekend and can.not.wait. I even went so far as to commit by saying so on my blog. Just wanted you to know that I linked back to you and am so excited to try these! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
[...] Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes Adapted from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen [...]
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