my gummi bear's birthday & a recipe

before i get on with it, you should know that my term of endearment of choice is usually that of a dessert food. cookie, nugget, gummi worm, cupcake.. you get the idea. I think it stems from my mother calling me "cookie" growing up. who am i kidding, she still does it. I do this to all of my friends and they seem to be alright with it. my husband, too. he can't get enough it.

but this weekend, Nicole (aka my little gummi bear-cookie girl) had herself a birthday. She turned 21 for the 7th time and we had a big bash at her shore house to celebrate the occasion. staples for nicole's birthday celebrations (every year) include champagne, gummi bears and waffles and ice cream. All three made their respective appearances this year, as well as these guys:

 *note: something crazy happened during the upload process. apologies for the weird blurry mark.


yeah, that's a cookie in a cupcake

i did it. I went there. and they were a huge success. the neighbors took three and ran back to their house to hoard them. true story. that's the impact of the cookie bottomed cupcake, friends. Made with love for my one and only cookie girl on the day of her birth.

here are some highlights from the party:

my lady friends.

yes, you read correctly. it's her f_cking birthday.

and here's the recipe, so you can make it and cause havoc at your next fiesta. *another note: I used my standard vanilla cupcake recipe here, which I don't have in front of me to share with you. So for argument's and time's sake, a box mix will work just fine. Same for the cookies.

Nicole's Cookie Bottomed Birthday Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

your favorite chocolate chip cookie cookie dough

(i used toll's house's cookie since it's my fave.

break and bake's would work great in this recipe, too! )

your favorite vanilla cupcake batter, prepared.

1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup heavy cream

preheat oven to 350

line an 18 cup muffin pan with liners

place a small circle of cookie dough at the bottom of the liner,

 about an inch wide

bake cookie mixture about 7-8 minutes. cookies should be starting to form,

 but still raw.

top the cookie layer with cupcake batter. fill till about 3/4 full.

put cupcakes back in the oven and bake till a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean. about 18-20 minutes.

while cupcakes cool, bring heavy cream to a slight boil. remove from heat.

add bag of chocolate chips and whisk until smooth.

dip the cupcake tops into the chocolate mixture.

refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours before serving.