You guys are all familiar with cookie butter right? I absolutely adore it, but haven’t used it much on the blog because it has always seemed a bit of a “specialty” ingredient that may be hard to come by. Now though, it seems as if every grocery store and bodega in the city sells Biscoff spread and then of course you can buy “cookie butter” at Trader Joes. (Worst case scenario- you can get it on Amazon
!)
If you happen to have no clue what I’m talking about, let me try to break it down for you- it’s a spread made from cookies – speculoos cookies to be exact, which are crisp, cinnamon spiced bits of deliciousness. (You may have tried the Biscoff version as an airplane snack!)
Anyway, cookie butter is to die for and if you haven’t tried it you really must. I thought it would be an amazing flavor to highlight in a cupcake. This bite sized confection starts with a tender vanilla-brown sugar cupcake with a speculoos cookie crust. When you bite into the center of the cupcake there’s a delicious dollop of cookie butter and a fluffy cookie butter frosting. Andy texted me after trying one saying, “that may be the best cupcake I’ve ever had!” I have to agree- it’s really something amazing. Get yourself some cookie butter and get baking!
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- a large pinch of salt
- 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
- 12 speculoos cookies broken in half
- ¾ cup cookie butter
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- ¼ cup cookie butter
- 1-2 cups powdered sugar
- splash of milk
- Speculoos cookies for garnish
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Line cupcake pans with liners and place half a cookie into each one, set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, mix in vanilla.
- Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down the bowl- don't over mix the batter.
- Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 5 minutes and then remove from pan. Let cupcakes cool completely.
- Use a paring knife to core a small little but out of each cupcake and fill with a small dollop of cookie butter.
- Cream together the butter and cookie butter. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until thick. Add a small splash of milk and mix on high until smooth and creamy.
- Spread or pipe onto the cooled and filled cupcakes and top with speculoos cookies if desired.
Lauren at Keep It Sweet says
March 20, 2014 at 6:56 amI am a huge cookie butter lover and these cupcakes look like a little piece of cookie butter heaven! love!
Elisa @ Insalata di Sillabe says
March 20, 2014 at 8:03 amOh my…I seriously have no words to describe how amazing and delicious these little babies look! Plus, I’m shocked I didn’t know anything about cookie butter, how is it that here in Italy we have been missing on something so delicious so far?! I have to find it and bake these little cupcakes asap!
xo, Elisa
Cassie says
March 20, 2014 at 8:56 amI do adore cookie butter. These are awesome!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
March 20, 2014 at 8:58 amGah!! These cupcakes look perfect!
JennyP says
March 20, 2014 at 9:45 amHi Audra! Can’t wait to try these – especially after you posted the yummy pic on instagram earlier this week! I’m wondering which frosting to use as it appears as though two recipes are posted above? (I assume the first one with the cookie butter integrated) Thanks!
Audra says
March 20, 2014 at 10:30 amAw man- my mistake. I fixed it so there should only be one recipe showing. Thanks Jenny :)
Jamie | Jamie's Recipes says
March 20, 2014 at 10:23 amI love cookie butter but have mainly been eating it off the spoon ;) The best cupcakes ever is a bold statement and I can’t wait to enjoy them!
Stephanie @ Girl Versus Dough says
March 20, 2014 at 11:07 amYou had me at cookie butter alone, but TRIPLE cookie butter? I might faint of happiness.
danielle says
March 20, 2014 at 12:31 pmI have never, ever heard of cookie butter, or Biscoff, or speculoos cookies (we Canadians are a bit behind it seems!!) so thank you very much for the description – they sound heavenly!!
I think a trip across the border is now required!
tara says
March 20, 2014 at 12:34 pmOMG I LOVE cookie butter!!! These cupcakes sound so freaking amazing! At my old job I used to have snack time with pretzels with cookie butter. I gained like 10 pounds but it was so worth it!
Stefanie @ Sarcastic Cooking says
March 20, 2014 at 4:26 pmI am adding a jar of cookie butter to my grocery list for this weekend! Amazing!
Emily @ Life on Food says
March 20, 2014 at 5:59 pmWho doesn’t know about cookie butter? These look fantastic.
TREW HIT says
March 20, 2014 at 6:18 pmI watch Cupcake Wars religiously. On one of the episode this was used, so I did my research. Biscoff is addicting. I have to order online until Trader Joe’s opens hee next year. Can’t wait to make these.
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
March 20, 2014 at 8:06 pmMichael hates cookie butter but I LOOOOVE IT! What does this mean??? MORE CUPCAKES FOR ME!! This is the perfect translation of that yumminess into cupcake form!
Elizabeth @ Confessions of a Baking Queen says
March 21, 2014 at 1:09 amCookie butter is my favorite thing EVER!!! These cupcakes look awesome :)
Marylou Andrew says
March 21, 2014 at 4:22 amI had no idea what cookie butter was but I’ve been seeing it on a bunch of blogs lately. Thanks for breaking it down. The cupcakes look and sound delicious!
Carolyn says
March 21, 2014 at 12:33 pmThese look yummy. I’m hoping I’m not going blind… where do the cookies get used in the cupcake part of the recipe? Are they the same as the garnish referred to in the frosting?
Meriem @ Culinary Couture says
March 22, 2014 at 10:33 pmI need to try these! Every time I see a cookie butter recipe, I swear that I’m going to finally buy a jar but I always forget! I need to tie a string around my finger or something! Or keep a picture of these in my wallet :)
Faye says
March 22, 2014 at 11:24 pmLOVE, LOVE, LOVE this.
Laura Dembowski says
March 23, 2014 at 8:36 amI love cookie butter. These cupcakes take it to a whole new level! I would put way too much in the center of the cupcakes just to have a little extra :)
Renee @ Awesome on $20 says
April 3, 2014 at 1:52 amI had a friend bring me back a jar of cookie butter from the mainland recently. I’ve been trying to decide what to make with it. These look perfect. And I bet if I can’t find the cookies on my island, the internet will tell me how to make my own.
Lynna says
April 18, 2014 at 4:01 amI`m drooling just thinking about how amazing these would taste!
Emma says
April 19, 2014 at 4:08 pmHello! I always get a little bummed when I see a recipe I wanted to try but there are no review of the actual recipe, just enthusiastic people like myself who desperately WANT to make it but haven’t yet. So, I am here to proclaim to all the land that the icing is AMAZING and the base cake has great taste. I converted it to two 9-inch round pans so I could make it into a cake, and it turned out pretty dense, but with great flavor. The icing is perfect in every way. I could worship the icing. To all of you out there who just haven’t tried it yet- TRY IT. It’s SO GOOD.
Audra says
April 23, 2014 at 9:28 pmI’m so glad you liked it- I adored that frosting too!
taryn says
May 20, 2014 at 5:00 pmexcited to try these cupcakes!! question, for the frosting it says “splash of milk”, what kind of milk do you recommend using? would buttermilk work or use whole or skim milk.
Audra says
May 20, 2014 at 7:55 pmNot buttermilk, but skim, whole or anything in between would work! :)
Carol says
July 9, 2014 at 3:57 pmHoly Moses, these are great. I’m about to meet up with my large family on Lake Michigan, and made a trial run of this recipe before a very special birthday we’ll be celebrating. Not only are they as delicious as they look, but the delicate crumb of the cake, and the slight sugariness that the cookie butter imparts to the frosting, are PERFECT. Thanks warmly Audra — subscribing to your e-mail alerts immediately.
Audra says
July 10, 2014 at 11:23 pmThanks so much Carol :) I am so glad you enjoyed them!
Sabeen says
December 13, 2014 at 9:32 amThese were absolutely delicious!!! Just a few things though, I found the batter to be a bit dense. Do you think I could add some milk to make it a little lighter and fluffier? :) How much would you recommend? The frosting was scrumptious!!
Audra says
December 13, 2014 at 8:25 pmYou could experiment with adding more milk but I haven’t tried that so you’ll have to try and see how it goes! Let me know!
Sabeen says
December 13, 2014 at 7:54 pmAlso, what tip did you use to pipe the frosting?
Audra says
December 13, 2014 at 8:23 pmI used a large star tip!
Cathy says
January 22, 2017 at 9:08 amWhen do you add the cookie butter to the cupcake batter?
Natasha says
April 28, 2017 at 5:22 pmThey had a HUGE (3.5lbs) jar of Biscoff cookie butter at my local Costco for $2.97 which is perfect for the cupcakes I’m going to make my husband for his birthday this coming week! <3