Cookie Filled Cupcakes

they look like normal, unassuming cupcakes.
but they have a surprise inside them...

cookie dough!

these are so simple, and so decadent. just make your cupcakes as normal, but put a bit of frozen cookie dough in the batter before you bake them, like so:

you must freeze the cookie dough, at least 2 hours, or else the dough will bake and you'll have an odd crispy mess in the middle instead of a bit of cookie dough.

i'm not gonna lie, i used a chocolate cake mix for these and frozen break-n-bake cookie dough. i broke my own rule and used off-brand cake mix, and i paid the price for it. the cake part wasn't that great, sort of dry, but the cookie dough more than made up for it.

and i topped these with a ganache made with one part (1/2 cup) cream and two parts (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips. at first, i was thinking i should have used milk chocolate, but the semisweet was perfect. the cupcakes were quite sweet, so the semisweet ganache added a good contrast in sweetness and texture.

i was inspired by recipes on allrecipes.com and cakemixdoctor.com. this is an easy recipe that is easily adaptable, and the possibilities are endless! i had some more break-n-bake dough so i made more cupcakes with yellow cake mix (name brand this time) and ganache topping... so good. just imagine the flavor combinations with this cake, cookie, and frosting/topping combination!