Cookie Dough + Cupcake?

"The-the aves! I'm looking at the avians!" JP said, gesticulating wildly. I smirked and shook my head. The other team would never guess the answer. 

"Bird watching!" Peter yelled, just as the buzzer went off. Team One groaned collectively at Team Two's unexpected victory. 

This was the environment in which I worked. Ridiculous games of Catchphrase intermingled with profound conversations, sprinkled with witty banter. I've grown so much to love this place. And I wanted to show my love with cookie dough cupcakes.

Yes, they are as amazing as they sound. A ball of half baked cookie dough encased in a fluffy yellow cupcake. Yay! These taste great without frosting, but they're hideously ugly, so if you're going to bring them to a party or something, hide their deformities. I had them at my graduation party last summer, topped with chocolate frosting, and they were awesome. 

Ugh, this is a really bad picture. Sorry. It just looks like a pile of polenta, haha. 

Cookie Dough Cupakes 

from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
•  
• 1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3 eggs

Directions

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Form the dough into tablespoon-sized balls; place onto a baking sheet, and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
2. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
3. Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer to break up. Add the cake mix, water, and canola oil; continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each 2/3 full. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake (not the cookie dough ball) comes clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.