Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups with Vanilla Infused Milk - do I have your attention yet?  How stinking cute are these?  I can't take credit -they're the brainchild of Dominique Ansel, but he's keeping his recipe top secret so I played around with a few recipes and techniques until I came up with this version.  They're a bit more work than baking a batch of cookies, but you can make them in advance so that helps.  Just wait until your guests see them - they'll be blown away.    

The cast of characters.

I love my BeaterBlade attachment.  It completely eliminates the need to stop and scrape down the sides of my mixing bowl.  Love it, love it, love it!! 

Cream the butter, sugars, salt, and vanilla together until they look like this.

Add the egg white and mix until it looks like this.

Add the flour and mix just until no traces of dry flour remain.

In go the mini chocolate chips - mix just until the chips are evenly distributed.

Wrap well in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.

You'll need something small, oven-proof, and cylindrical like these adorable stoneware espresso mugs.  They make the perfect size cookie cups!

For best results, use Baker's Joy.  Butter simply doesn't work for this recipe, and believe me, I tried - for some reason, it made the cookie dough fuse onto the mugs and I couldn't remove the cookie cups at all.  Couldn't even chisel them out.  Epic fail.

Ok, here's the best advice I can give you - don't put too much cookie dough into the espresso mugs.  The first time I tried these, I used more than twice the amount of dough shown, but I couldn't get the dough to bake through - the tops were burned and the bottoms were a puddle of raw dough.  

I found the trick is to press a much thinner layer of dough - basically the thickness of a mini chocolate chip.  Just press pieces of dough against the mug until the mini chocolate chips prevent you from pressing it any thinner.  Continue all around the sides and bottom of the mug, patching and pressing until it's completely covered, being careful to press all seams together.

Ready for the oven - note how I've neatened up the rim of the dough.

I bake my cups for exactly 16 minutes.  The top of the dough will just be starting to turn golden brown.  The cookie cups will be too soft to unmold at this point so it's really, really important to allow them to rest for at least 15 minutes before unmolding.  Again, I learned the hard way.  Your patience will pay off, I promise.

When you remove the cookie cups, they will still be a little warm.  Allow them to cool completely before proceeding.  This should only take a couple of minutes, but you can speed things along by placing them in the fridge.

Gently melt your favorite chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Coat the inside of each cookie cup with the melted chocolate.  Because the inside of the cookie cups are so narrow, a thin, round pastry brush like this one works very well.

Remind me to paint with chocolate more often - it's fun.  Chill until the chocolate sets.

Time to enjoy.  I like to serve each cookie cup with a little individual porcelain pitcher full of vanilla infused milk.  I like the milk icy cold.  How about you?

Refill and sip some more.

When you can't resist any longer, devour cookie cup.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• baker’s joy https://amzn.to/3gdpPKF

• oven-proof espresso cups https://amzn.to/3L5U6cg

• beater blade attachment https://amzn.to/3IW1cOH

• small pastry brush https://amzn.to/3HlMH6p

• small porcelain pitcher https://amzn.to/3giZ2wh

• pure vanilla bean paste (use the good stuff!) https://amzn.to/3HhfWXZ

• pure vanilla extract (again, use the good stuff!) https://amzn.to/3r9wNGK

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

makes 8 cookie cups

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Cookie Cups:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• pinch of fine salt

• 1 egg white

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

• 1 ounce high-quality dark chocolate, melted

Vanilla Infused Milk:

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and place rack in the lower center position.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBalde attachment (or the flat paddle), cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and salt for 1 minutes on medium-high speed.

3. On medium speed, add egg white and mix until completely incorporated.

4. Continuing on medium speed, add flour and mix just until no signs of dry flour remain.

5. Reduce speed to low and add mini chocolate chips; mix until evenly distributed.

6. Wrap cookie dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

7. Spray 3.5-ounce mini espresso cups with Baker's Joy; use your finger to spread it into an even layer, paying close attention to get down where the sides and bottom of the cups meet.

8. Press a layer of dough about the thickness of a mini chocolate chip evenly into the bottom and up the sides of each cup.

9. Place cups on a 1/4-sheet pan and bake on lower middle rack of preheated oven for 15-16 minutes.

10. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before attempting to unmold cookie cups; allow to cool completely.

11. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate.

12. Use a small, thin pastry brush to coat the inside of each cookie cup with chocolate; chill until chocolate sets.

13. Make vanilla infused milk by whisking warm milk and vanilla bean paste together (serve warm or cold).

14. Serve with mini pitcher of vanilla infused milk - just pour the milk in the cookie cup, and enjoy.

MORE COOKIES:

Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies

It may be hard to believe, but these adorable mini whoopie pies are made with only 6 ingredients.  I know, right?  

To make the cookies, combine one box of dry devils food cake mix and one can of 100% pure pumpkin puree.  No egg, no water, no oil, just the dry mix and pumpkin.  That's all.  I mix them in my stand mixer using a BeaterBlade or flat beater attachment. 

Then I use a #50 scoop to portion 1 tablespoon mounds of dough onto silpat lined half sheet pans.  This recipe will make 4 pans of cookies.  If you don't have 4 pans with liners, you can rotate 2 pans - just be sure the pans are completely cool before putting cookie dough on them.  

While the cookies are baking, make the cream filling. 

Cream together room temperature butter and confectioners sugar.  Make sure the butter is at room temperature.  This is one of the few recipes that I use salted butter.  You can use unsalted if you like, just add a healthy pinch or two of fine salt for flavor. 

Whip the butter and sugar together for a full 3 minutes.  I like to use my BeaterBlade attachment so I don't have to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  LOVE my BeaterBlade!!  

Add the marshmallow cream.  It's so sticky!

And lastly, add pure vanilla extract. Use the good stuff - it makes all the difference. 

Mix again, just until the marshmallow cream and vanilla are fully incorporated.

Place the cream filling in a large pastry bag fitted with a round tip.  I like to use plastic and polycarbonate tips for several reasons:

1. They don't have seams, which can leave marks in your piped design.

2. They don't get cold like metal tips. cold metal can make some fillings seize and clog the tip (like anything containing temperature sensitive ingredients like chocolate or butter).

3. You can spot large air bubbles before they have a chance to explode all over the place.

Ok, back to our mini whoopie pies.  Squeeze a good dollop of filling on the flat side of one cookie and top with another cookies, sandwiching the two flat sides together as shown below.

And that's all there is to it.  Store these bite-size treats in an airtight container.  Serve chilled.

Items used to make this recipe:

• pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3r9wNGK

• marshmallow cream https://amzn.to/3rmcFBu

• #50 scoop https://amzn.to/32OW1Rg

• beaterblade https://amzn.to/348gOzS

• half sheet pans https://amzn.to/3L6vNv8

• silpat liner https://amzn.to/3rjZzo3

• 100% pure pumpkin puree https://amzn.to/3IVYxob

• devils food cake mix https://amzn.to/3ugjfew

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Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies

makes approximately 30 mini whoopie pies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Whoopie Pies

• 18.5 ounce box devils food cake mix

• 15 ounces 100% pure pumpkin puree

Filling

• 16 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature

• 2 cups confectioners sugar

• 7.5 ounces marshmallow cream

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

To make cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line 2 half sheet pans with silpats.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade (or paddle attachment), combine cake mix and pumpkin until no signs of dry cake mix remain.

3. Use a #50 scoop (about 1 tablespoon) to portion 15 cookies onto each prepared sheet pan.

4. Bake one pan at a time, in the center of the oven, for 15 minutes; repeat until all cookie dough is baked (be sure sheet trays are completely cool before placing cookie dough on them).

5. Allow cookies to cool completely on sheet pan before filling.

To make filling and assemble whoopie pies:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade (or paddle attachment), cream butter and sugar together for 3 minutes.

2. Add marshmallow cream and vanilla; mix until combined.

3. Place filling in a disposable pastry bag fitted with a large round tip.

4. Pipe filling onto flat side of one cooled cookie and top with a second cookie to form a mini whoopie pie; continue until all the cookies are filled.

5. Chill whoopie pies in an airtight container; serve cold.

Notes

• Leftover cream filling can be frozen in an airtight container.  

• Thaw overnight in the fridge and re-whip to restore consistency if needed.