GUEST BLOGGER: The More Than Occasional Baker's Cookie Monster Cupcakes!

Today I have a guest blogger posting - The More Than Occasional Baker! She has hundreds of mouthwatering recipes and so many flavour combinations that I hadn't even considered before, you should definitely go and check her out! This is my first ever guest blog post, I was a little sceptical about how it would turn out but I have actually enjoyed it so much! I am looking to continue this every other Monday so if you are a blogger who is interested in guest blogging on here then feel free to email me on: cakesfordorothy@gmail.com, even if you are unsure what it's about. But now I'll hand you over to Ros...

These were made for an impromptu baby shower at work. I didn't have time to order baby related cutters to make cute cookies or baby toppers (pram, bootie, etc) and I definitely was not going to try making them myself from fondant. I already knew that they were expecting a boy so here's my thought process (it makes sense in my head!) .... baby....boy.....blue...cookie....blue....cookie monster.... cookie monster cupcakes! A quick search on google for ideas and the rest as they say is history. 

These are incredibly simple and fun to make and will definitely make everyone go "oooh and aaahh" :) I made a chocolate chip cupcake (vanilla sponge + chocolate chips) but you can of course use any cupcake flavour you want. I also made the chocolate chip cookies as I'm a bit of a cookie monster myself! I'm sure I've referred to myself as the cookie monster a few times on this blog! Which is your favourite character from Sesame Street?

Ingredients:

Chocolate Chip Cupcake
250g butter
200g sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
200g chocolate chips (I used a mixture of dark and milk chocolate chips here)

Chocolate Chip Cookie
170g butter
80g caster sugar
80g light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
250g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
200g chocolate chips

Vanilla Buttercream icing
110g butter
200g icing sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons milk
blue food colouring

Decorations
~100g dessicated coconut
blue food colouring
giant white buttons
chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Make the cupcakes by creaming the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Add in the milk, vanilla extract, flour and baking powder.
5. Mix well and finally stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Scoop batter into cupcake cases and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

7. Whilst the cupcakes are baking, cream the butter and sugars for the cookie.
8. Add the egg, vanilla extract and salt.
9. Mix in the flour and baking powder and finally stir in the chocolate chips.
10. Place cookie dough in small round balls on a lined baking tray spaced apart.
11. Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
12. Cool the cupcakes and cookies on a wire rack until completely cold.
13. Make the buttercream frosting by mixing all the ingredients together until you a nice, smooth blue icing.

13. Dip your cupcake in the icing and twist the cupcake then lift - no need for piping. You can also use a spoon to spread the icing on. It does not have to be neat as you can't see the icing later.

14. Next dip in a bowl of dessicated coconut which has been dyed blue. Again just dip the cupcake, icing down into the bowl and twist until the cupcake is completely covered. 

15. Cut out a "mouth" and eat the cake scraps.

16.  Place half a cookie into the hole you cut (you may have to trim the cookies if they are too wide like mine were).

17. Finally, add on the eyes. I dipped the bottom in some icing and placed it into the cupcake.

If you like what you see then don't forget to go and check out The More Than Occasional Baker!

Enjoy!

Cakesfordorothy xoxo

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