Fudgy homemade brownie cupcakes with cookie dough frosting on top. One incredible dessert that you’ll want to make again and again!
There’s also nothing like finishing the day with dense fudgy brownies, cupcakes, and cookie dough.
These fudge brownie cupcakes are so chocolatey that your head will spin. They aren’t light and fluffy like regular chocolate cupcakes, nor are they as dense as homemade brownies. But they are so rich, so moist, so fudgy, and will practically melt in your mouth. Eating one is by far, the best chocolate experience I’ve ever had. Yes, the brownie cupcakes themselves are an experience.
Now, let’s move on to the frosting. It’s like the dough from my favorite chocolate chip cookies, but smooth enough to slather onto a cupcake or a graham cracker or a pretzel (try it).
This egg-free cookie dough frosting is made with heat-treated flour. Raw flour can be a carrier of E. coli unless it goes through a heating process to kill the bacteria. (Think about it—flour is usually baked in a recipe.)
How to Heat Treat Flour
Option 1 – Microwave
- You can heat treat your entire bag of flour or just treat the amount you need in a single recipe. If you’re heating just enough for the recipe, add an extra 1/2 – 1 cup to be sure you have enough.
- Place the flour in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high for 30 seconds at a time, stopping and stirring after each. Stir well to make sure none of the flour burns. Use an instant-read thermometer to test the flour in several places to make sure it has reached 165°F (74°C). If you get a lower reading in one area, stir and heat for an additional 30 seconds until it’s all ready.
- Measure the amount of flour you need and use in the recipe, then let it cool completely.
Option 2 – Oven
- Preheat oven to 300°F (149°C). Spread more flour than the recipe calls for on an un-greased rimmed baking pan, such as a 9×13-inch baking pan or 9×9-inch baking pan. Then follow a process similar to the microwave method by stirring and checking the temperature at 2 minute intervals. Be sure to check multiple spots of the flour to make sure it has all reached 165°F (74°C).
- If some flour sticks to the bottom or sides of the pan, don’t worry, just leave it there. You used more flour than needed in the recipe anyway. Don’t scrape it off because it will add small clumps to your batter/dough.
- If your flour is really clumpy, your oven might be too hot. Break it up with your fingers or pour all the flour into a bowl and whisk it. Discard any chunks if necessary.
- Measure the amount of flour you need and use in the recipe, then let it cool completely.
If you enjoy cookie dough inspired treats as much as I do, try these cookie dough cupcakes, cookie dough frosted cookie cups, and cookie dough truffles next. You’ll love them all!
PrintFudge Brownie Cupcakes with Cookie Dough Frosting
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Fudgy homemade brownie cupcakes with cookie dough frosting on top. One incredible dessert that you’ll want to make again and again!
Ingredients
Brownie Cupcakes
- 4 ounces unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli)
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 and 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup (94g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Cookie Dough Frosting
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (140g) heat-treated all-purpose flour* (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk*
- 1 cup (180g) mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners or spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Make the brownie cupcakes: Melt the chopped chocolate and sliced butter together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each until completely smooth and combined. Allow to cool for a few minutes. Stir in sugar, then vanilla. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the flour and salt.
- Pour batter into 12 muffin tins and bake for 20-23 minutes. Mine took 22 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center will have moist crumbs. Be careful not to overbake the cupcakes.
- Make the frosting: While the cupcakes are cooling in the pan, make the frosting. With an electric handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar at medium speed. Add the vanilla and beat well. Stir in the flour and salt until doughy. Stir in the milk and beat until fluffy. Gently fold in chocolate chips. Frost cooled cupcakes.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-cup Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Icing Spatula
- Heat Treated Flour: Though raw all-purpose flour is fine to use in the brownie cupcakes since you’re baking them, it’s safest to use heat-treated flour in the frosting. See note/instructions above recipe or purchase it online.
- Milk: I used vanilla almond milk, but any dairy or nondairy milk would be fine.
- Boxed Mix: You could easily use boxed brownie mix as a shortcut, but you would need to adjust the frosting accordingly since the cookie dough frosting recipe below only makes enough for 10-12 cupcakes.
- Tip: I find these cupcakes are best served cold. I keep mine in the refrigerator.
Keywords: fudge brownie cupcakes, fudge brownie cupcakes with cookie dough frosting
Could I use a boxed blonde brownie mix? Do you fill the cupcake up more before baking since brownies don’t rise that much?
Definitely! About 3/4 of the way full.
Any idea if the cookie dough frosting would freeze well? I’m making several different desserts for a friend’s wedding reception, squares and cupcakes, and it would be awesome if I could freeze these frosted cupcakes to save some time. Of course we’ll be frosting some the day before anyway, but maybe cookie dough frosting would freeze and thaw well? I’d appreciate your insight!
P.S. My wedding dessert pintrest board looks like a Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe index. 🙂 I’ve been testing recipes and so far haven’t been able to freeze any, because they are just not lasting around here.
Chelsea, this frosting freezes well. However, it’s a very thick frosting, so make sure it is thawed completely overnight in the refrigerator. Then, bring it to room temperature before using. Beat in a drizzle of milk, if needed, to thin out.
The frosting is outstanding! I honestly didn’t expect it to be so fluffy. I actually managed to frost 22 cupcakes with just one batch of the frosting.
Hi again, Sally!
Just wanted to let you know that I decided to use one of your vanilla brownies/blondies recipes and then just frosted them with the cookie dough frosting… HUGE HIT. I’m normally not a fan of frosted brownies because I think the frosting makes them too rich but… they were wonderful! Thanks for all of your great recipes!
Amy
Okay, so I just realized that by mistake I used 3/4 cups brown sugar (I read it off the frosting ingrediants) instead of the 1 and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. They turned out to be AMAZING though. I will definitely make them the same way next time, just because I don’t want to change anything about how they tasted! They were that good! Thought I’d write a comment in case anyone is interested in lowering the sugar content. Xo
Omg…… These are simply DELECTABLE. Like wOw!!!! How are these so good?! I need to calm down. Maybe I’m on some kind of chocolate high from eating one of these cupcakes just now, or maybe I’m slightly delirious because it’s almost midnight, but seriously I am feeling SO pumped. These are just SO GOOD. Perfect amount of density, amazingly moist, just sweet enough. Thank you!!! I made these without cupcake liners–just spread coconut oil on my tin, and they popped out nice and clean after 18 minutes of baking. Amaze!!
Oh, btw, I didnt make the frosting (I went with a lemon + lime buttercream frosting instead since my sister loves anything lemony and these were for her bday), but I’m definitely planning on making yours soon.
Oh, and for any gluten-free homies out there, I made this with the King Arthur all propose GF flour and it worked swimmingly.
Last thing: I added like 5 choc chips to each… highly recommend!
How would I change the recipe/how long would I bake it if I wanted to make a cake?
Thanks Sally! I was trying to avoid chocolate altogether (its for a friend… who doesn’t like chocolate – CRAZY) but if you’re unsure I’ll figure something else out! Thanks for responding so quickly.
This recipe help me win the 2015 bake-off in my music fraternity!
About three weeks ago I made the recipe and went full-on “Slutty brownie” but deconstructed as a cupcake – I filled the brownies with an Oreo cream cheese frosting, and topped them with a mini Oreo to boot. The wow factor however was definitely this delicious cookie dough icing – seriously, SO GOOD! I love that it’s a little salty, just like cookie dough!
Hi Sally! Love this recipe so much 🙂 Can the brownie cupcake recipe be used for regular brownies as well? Or would i have to alter something?
Makes wonderful brownies (though sometimes I add another 2-3 ounces of pure chocolate when making brownies) – the bake time is around 35 minutes in a 9×9 baking pan.
Can we use normal sized chocolate chips instead of the mini ones?
Yes.
i only have mini muffin pans.. if i were to bake them in a mini muffin pan how long would it take?
I’m unsure exactly how long, Maggie. Considerably less time since they’re smaller.
Am I reading the recipe correctly? For the cupcake it needs 1.25 cup sugar but only .75 cup flour?
Thx,
Nipa
Yes. Brownie recipes typically have more sugar than flour to maintain density.
Was told that I excelled myself after making these (have to admit I agree!) My sister has already demanded that I make them again for her birthday which isn’t until September!! Very yummy indeed and lots of cookie dough toping to go around
I know this is an old post, but I absolutely loveeeee these! I’ve made them at least three times in the past month! I especially just love the brownie/cupcake part, it’s utter perfection to me. I was wondering if I could double the recipe or something and bake it in a brownie pan instead of in a cupcake pan? Or would this recipe only work for cupcakes?
You may definitely double the recipe and bake as brownies in a 9×13 pan. About 40-45 minutes bake time (maybe more or less – all ovens vary). Enjoy!
Yes – they would just be plain brownie cupcakes. Very good.
OMG, one bite of these and I was in heaven. Two of my favorite things combined together. Thank you Sally! I made these for my BFF’s birthday and some people even had two!
If I don’t have only hand mixer is that ok??Also it doesn’t have a paddle attachment.
These cupcakes, with the frosting, were a great hit with my family when I served them for a birthday. All I heard was groans of pleasure while they were eaten. Thank you for sharing!!
I would love to try this recipe. Only problem: I live in Europe and I have no idea how much grams a cup is. Any chance you could translate the recipe into the metric system? I would be so grateful!
Hi Jolien! I just updated the recipe to include gram measurements for you.
I made this today, pretty awesome! I also tried the mint chocolate cupcakes and everyone says they’re their favourite and they can’t wait for me to make more! My boyfriend tried one and then asked me if we really had to share them with other people. (I tried extra mint in the frosting by way of chopped up Andes mints instead of chocolate chips!) Love the recipes!! Thanks a bunch!
Love both cupcakes you tried Alys! Thanks so much for reporting back.
Sally, is it possible to make these using semi-sweet chocolate? I have a ton left over from the holidays. I would think the amount of sugar would need to be adjusted, though. Maybe I’ll just buy the bittersweet….thanks for your input. I can’t wait to receive your cookbook.
Semi-sweet would be just fine. Reduce sugar to 1 cup. Enjoy, Sherry!
I made these before and they were a hit, but I just made them again and when I took them out to cool the brownie tops sunk in quite a bit. I figure it’s no big deal as I will just cover them with a spoonful of the crazy good frosting, but wondering if there was a way to unsure they are a bit more shapely (sort of like me after I eat all of these haha).
Haha! It sounds like they may have been under baked Molly. Even though you’ve made them before, just 1 minute could make a difference. I would try baking them for a little longer.
I just made these, filled them with ice cream and froze them but they are soooo good 🙂 definitely saving this recipe 🙂
Love the idea of ice cream with them. Yum!
Made the brownie with cookiedough and sprinkle cupcakes for my nephews birthday party. They both turned out AWESOME!
Both are amazing birthday treats. 🙂 I’m glad they were both a hit! Thanks so much Dodie!
I just made these last night (co-worker birthday today!) and they turned out EXTREMELY well! I was using the “toothpick test” for doneness and baked them for 17 minutes before I scrolled down and saw others’ comments about baking time and doneness. I tested them once more, and there was still a little batter on the toothpick, so I pulled them out immediately. They ended up moist and had good flavor, whew!
I had to make a minimum of 9 cupcakes, so I just made 1.5X batter and 1.5X frosting recipes (i.e., divided each ingredient in 1/2 and then added that to the quantity listed). The amount was absolutely perfect for 12 cupcakes – yay extras! I piled a MILE of frosting on top of those babies and still had about 1 cupcake’s worth of frosting leftover for the hubby to demolish 😉
Thanks, Sally, for another amazing recipe!
Hey Dierdre! How perfect. 🙂 This is a classic recipe of mine and a reader favorite, too. So glad they were moist and udgy for you. The frosting – oh heavens, it is so good! Thanks for reporting back to me, I appreciate it!
This is probably a REALLY stupid question but how did you frost these to make them look like that? Did you use a frosting bag or just a butter knife (I am a master baker, I know!)? Thank you!!
Hey Lily! I just used a knife.
Is the flour in icing plain or self rising?
just plain all-purpose flour
These cupcakes look amazing! I was just wondering though if i could substitute the unsalted butter (for both the cupcake and frosting) for Margarine? Thanks a bunch! Can’t wait to make these!
Hi Julie! You may certainly substitute Margarine. I’ve never personally tried it before, but a reader of mine has and had success. So I can’t speak from my own experience.
Can this recipe be made in a cake pan such as 9×13? Anyone try this?
There is not enough batter for 9×13 – i’d try 9×9 or 8×8 instead. Thanks Lisa!