Cookie Butter Cupcakes

I've blogged about Cookie Butter quite a few times already because I love it so. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have seen this picture, which is a true testament to my love of Cookie Butter!!!

Well, one day my mom and I were talking about how yummy it would be for cupcakes, and that got me thinking, which is always dangerous and usually results in large messes. =] I kept pondering how I could use the cookie butter to make oh-so-delicious cupcakes, and then it hit me! I could use the cookie butter as a filling. But...why stop there? Why not use it for the frosting too?! Sounds scrumptious, right?

It's okay. I'll wait while you wipe the drool from your keyboard. You might want to stop yourself from licking the computer screen while I tell you my genius plan for these cupcakes! =]

I decided to start with spice cake as my base. I was torn between white cake, chocolate cake, and spice cake. I chose the spice cake mix, but next time, I'll go for the chocolate cake mix. Chocolate + Cookie Butter = Heaven

But anyway...you'll need one box of spice cake. Any brand will do. Mix the ingredients and bake according to the box directions.

Then, comes the fun part! You get to core the middle of all the cupcakes once they've cooled. To do that, I use one of these. My grandmother gave it to me, and I think she got it from Williams-Sonoma. This is an action shot I got from their website.

source :: Williams-Sonoma

The awesome part of using this kitchen utensil is that you can eat itty bitty bites of cupcake while you wait for the finished product to be assembled...unless, of course, you have awesome self-control, which I definitely do not! Let's just say...there were no little cupcake holes to eat once I was finished.

Okay, so, once you've taken out the middles, you'll need to get your cookie butter and fill a pastry bag with it. I used a cake decorating tip too to help me fill them faster. I either used the Wilton 1A or 2A. I can't remember, but either will work. It's just a tip with a round opening. You'll use that to fill the middles of your cupcakes with the cookie butter. When you finish, set those aside

Now, it's time to make the cookie butter frosting. To make it easy on myself, I picked up a cream cheese frosting from the store, and, using my KitchenAid stand mixer, I added a cup of cookie butter to it. When I make these again, I will definitely play around with making a cookie butter buttercream from scratch. Fresh buttercream is just divine. Don't you think?

Well, once you've done all that, you frost them, and they'll look like this!

And, if you just so happen to have some Biscoff cookies hanging around your house, you can smash a few and sprinkle it on top of the frosting. It adds a nice texture.