CakeSpy Note: This is a guest post from Rainy Day Gal (a.k.a. Jenny Miller), a fellow Seattle blogger with a major sweet tooth.
Right now Samoas are here. As are Thin Mints. And Tagalongs. And some weird new flavors that nobody wants. But I'll forgive them their dried-cranberries-in-a-cookie misstep just this once. I just can't resist those cute little gals in uniform in front of the grocery store. I'm their best customer, and especially so this year because I decided to take on a baking project involving my all time fave---the aforementioned Samoas. Crunchy cookie covered in chocolate, caramel and toasted coconut? What could be better? Making it into a cupcake, of course. You could do this with any of your favorite cookies, Girl Scout or non---see my suggestions at the end of this post. To match the flavors of the Samoa, I chose a basic vanilla cupcake and a frosting lightly flavored with coconut. I now accept that I am ready to begin. So I will.
First we need to get some coconut milk reducing to make it more concentrated. Pour a can into a saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer over medium heat for about a half hour. Give it a stir once in a while. It will froth and get really big, but the liquid is really reducing in there. Meanwhile, grab the basics: flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.
4 eggs. Hippie eggs. I wrote a song about them earlier but I felt it would be inappropriate to share with you. Unsalted butter. 2 sticks. Cubed.
One cup of whole milk. And I'm definitely not going to share my song about hippie milk with y'all.
Pure vanilla extract. Don't ever buy imitation vanilla flavoring, pretty please. I will come over and throw it out your window. And, most importantly? The cookies.
I used two boxes for 24 cupcakes. I accept that there are far too many calories in Samoas alone, let alone in a Samoa cupcake. Somewhere Jillian Michaels is doing push-ups in her magical trainer castle and plotting what she'll have in store for me tomorrow. Stick 'em in your food processor and pulse away. Not even close. Getting closer.... ...perfect.
Toss 'em in a shallow bowl and let's get ready to make our cupcake batter. Toss your dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Give it a quick spin on low to combine the powdery stuff. Throw in your butter... ...and mix just until those little buttery chunks are coated with flour. Crack your 4 hippie eggs into the milk and add one tablespoon of vanilla. Mix well. Add the milk/egg/vanilla mixture to the dry ingredients a third at a time, stopping before each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. One... two.... ...three. It's alright if it's a little lumpy. Those little chunks of butter will serve to keep the cupcakes moist.
Now here's my trick for filling cupcake liners. Grab a big freezer bag and anchor 3 inches of one of the bottom corners under something heavy. Your stand mixer works perfectly for this. Pour in the batter (I usually hook one edge of the bag onto the little metal thingie that the mixer attachments hook onto. Yes, that is it's proper name.). Seal the bag, hold at the corner and cut off the tip. This is for those of us ghetto-fabulous chefs who don't own pastry bags. Fill your liners about 1/3 full...
...and then sprinkle on a light layer of the crumbled cookies. Then squeeze more batter over the top so that the entire thing is about 3/4 full. Throw into a preheated 325F oven for 17-20 minutes.
By now your coconut milk should be about a quarter of what it once was. It's also creamy and thick---perfect! Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Ready to make frosting? Combine cream cheese, butter, vanilla, powdered sugar and reduced coconut milk in your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
Once the cakes are done, set them on a rack to cool completely before frosting. I'm fairly certain my cupcake army is plotting to take over my home. Once they're cool enough, frost with about 1 tablespoon of frosting each. We're really using frosting in this case to serve as "glue" for the cookie crumbs---we don't want to overdo it. After frosting, give 'em a light dunk in the cookie crumbles. Perfect! I found one stray cookie in the box, so he gets the seat of honor (pictured top). Uh oh. Maybe he's commander of the army.
I think I've just done myself in. And, just because I feel like being sued for copyright infringement*, I stuck a purdy little Girl Scout logo on one of these beauties. *Rainy Day Gal has no affiliation with the Girl Scouts. She admires and respects the organization and hopes that they will not sue her, but instead send her boxes and boxes of cookies.
Alright, let's get down to it: how did they taste? Pretty darn good. The cake was moist and a tad on the dense side, with a crunchy little layer of cookie halfway down. The frosting added to the flavor of the cake, but didn't overpower the taste of the cookies on top. I simply loved the texture: crunch is always good. These cakes are not for the faint of heart, however---they are incredibly rich. I would make two Girl Scouts share one. A chaser of milk is definitely in order. I now accept that this post has come to an end. But before you go here are some ideas I have for making cupcakes using other flavors of GS Cooks (that's my new nickname for them. Go with it.):
- For Tagalongs: Ina Garten's recipe for chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting
- For Thin Mints: Simply Recipe's chocolate mint cupcakes
- For Dulce de Leche: Sugarlaw's caramel cupcakes
I hope you're enjoying Girl Scout cookie season as much as I am! Well, who am I kidding---I don't think anyone enjoys Girl Scout cookie season as much as I do. Have a totes fab wed, y'all. -RDG Samoa Cupcakes
- One batch Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake batter
- 2 boxes Samoas cookies, pulsed in a food processor until crumbly
- One batch Slightly Coconut Frosting (see below)
Preheat oven to 325F. Fill cupcake liners 1/3 full of batter. Sprinkle a light layer of cookie crumbs on top of batter. Pour the remaining batter on top until liners are about 3/4 full. Bake for 17-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Once cool, spread one tablespoon of frosting on top and then lightly press frosted side of cupcake into cookie crumbs. Makes 24 cupcakes. Slightly Coconut Frosting
- 1 can coconut milk
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Pour coconut milk into a saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced by 75%. Let cool. Combine 4 tablespoons of the reduced coconut milk and remaining ingredients and beat until light and creamy. Refrigerate any unused frosting.