I understand the appeal of classic flavors. The smell of vanilla inspires home, the gentle glide of biting into a freshly frosted cupcake with a perfect swirl on top. Nothing beats a perfect chocolate cupcake, perhaps with a fudge frosting, melting in your mouth as you savor the rich flavors. The classic, memory-inducing, bring-me-back-to-my-childhood cupcakes are exactly what we need some days. Other days, however, call for a little more adventure.

If you haven’t found a cupcake that means anything to you, perhaps the classic flavors aren’t for you. I invite you to step away from the handful of flavors you know and explore new cupcake horizons. I want my cupcakes to surprise me and entice me to try something new. Whether it’s simply a new frosting on a familiar cupcake or changing the ingredients a little bit, trying to make them different has always been my approach.

I was running out of new ideas when I found a beacon of hope, an unexplored direction: the combination of cookie and cupcake. Two of my favorite things are cookie dough and cupcakes, and one stuffed inside the other was an offer too good to resist.

My preferred cupcake is a chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake, stuffed with chocolate chip cookie dough, and topped with cookie dough frosting and mini chocolate chips.

First step is cookie dough. Make it early and find a recipe without rising agents—eggs, baking soda and the sort. Basically, the recipe should be butter, sugar, flour, vanilla, milk and a lot of chocolate chips.

Put it in the freezer to chill. Roll the cookie dough into about twenty-four balls to make your life easier. If it’s chilled, the cookie dough won’t bake into cookies. Then, whenever you’re ready, it’s time to assemble and bake the cupcakes!

The first step is to find all the things you don’t usually use while on campus: cupcake pans, beautiful linings to bake the cupcakes in, an oven, a mixer, some bowls, measuring cups and of course, ingredients. Start with the ingredients of a basic vanilla cupcake: butter, flour and sugar.

If you’re feeling ambitious, experiment with the amount of vanilla extract in the batter to make it taste more like cookie dough. Scoop the batter into your liners, only about two-thirds full, so they have room for the cookie dough and to rise.

Take out the cookie dough balls and put one into each cupcake. Bake for about fifteen minutes, but keep your eye on them so they don’t burn. Give the cupcakes sufficient time to cool before you frost them. Add a little more vanilla to your frosting to give it a stronger cookie dough flavor.

Of course, we don’t all have time to make these extravagant cupcakes from scratch. If you can get your hands on a box of vanilla cupcake mix, a roll of cookie dough and some vanilla frosting, you can make an excellent cupcake without spending too much of your precious time.

Just remember to chill the cookie dough before you drop it into the cupcakes and bake, otherwise you’ll get cookies surrounded by cupcake goo.

Stuffing cupcakes makes them more than the classic cupcake. Who doesn’t like a little chewy surprise when you bite into a cupcake?

Next time it’s someone special’s birthday, think about whether they want a cupcake to transport them to their childhood or something they have never tried before.. Show everyone what you know now about cupcakes.

Don’t avoid cupcakes simply because they are moist(Who actually likes that word?). Look at me, talking about cupcakes like they’re people . Cupcakes aren’t boring: they aren’t meant to be. Give them a chance. Maybe you’ll find a new way to enjoy cupcakes too.

The Recipe

Ingredients

Cookie dough:

2 sticks softened butter

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Cupcake batter:

3 sticks softened butter

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed

4 large eggs

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

3 tsp. vanilla extract

Begin with the dough. Combine the butter and sugars in a bowl and beat for about 2 mins. on medium-high speed. Slowly add milk and vanilla. Beat in the flour and salt until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Mold the dough into balls or tubes. Freeze on a parchment-lined baking sheet overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total). For the cupcake batter, beat butter and brown sugar in bowl on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat eggs in one at a time. Blend flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk. Mix in the vanilla.

Scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake liners. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.

Bake at 350 for 16-18 mins. Use frosting of your choice.