Moist and buttery, high altitude chocolate chip cupcakes, frosted with fluffy chocolate chip buttercream, and topped with soft mini chocolate chip cookies. These are the perfect cupcakes for chocolate chip cookie lovers!
You might also love this one layer walnut chocolate chip cake with ganache, big chocolate chip cookies for two, and chocolate chip sour cream loaf cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
So Many Chocolate Chips. There’s loads of mini chocolate chips in today’s recipe. In the cupcakes, sprinkled on top of the buttercream, and more in the cookies.
Fluffy and Moist. The cupcakes are tender, moist and fluffy, and the cookies are so soft. What more could you want in chocolate chip cupcakes?
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
- For the mini cookies, I used my easy, high altitude chocolate chip cookie recipe. The cookies are really soft, and the dough comes together quickly without a mixer. With mini chocolate chips, these little cookies make the cutest cupcake toppers.
Cupcakes
- Unsalted Butter. Creamed together with the sugar, the butter adds flavor and moisture for a tender, delicious cupcake.
- Sugar. You’ll need granulated sugar and light brown sugar for sweetness and moisture.
- Egg Whites. Add structure and moisture. Be sure to save the egg yolks for another use.
- Flour. All-purpose flour adds structure and strength.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavors.
- Baking Powder. Leavening agent.
- Milk + Sour Cream. Use whole milk and full fat sour cream for the best flavor, and moist, tender cupcakes.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Chocolate Chips. Mini semi sweet chocolate chips work best in the cupcakes. With their smaller size, they’re lighter so they stay suspended in the cupcake batter rather than sinking to the bottom.
Buttercream
- Butter. I use unsalted butter and then add a pinch of salt, but you can also use salted butter and omit the extra salt.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
- Meringue Powder. Adds stability.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Caramel Sauce. Since chocolate chip cookies always have some brown sugar in them, I wanted to add those subtle caramel notes of flavor to the buttercream. Brown sugar adds grittiness to buttercream, though, so caramel sauce is a perfect substitution that keeps the frosting smooth and creamy.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Chocolate Chips. For sprinkling on top.
Instructions
Cookies
- Prepare the recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough as instructed. However, instead of the regular sized chocolate chips called for in the recipe, use 1/2 cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips.
- Use a small cookie scoop with a release lever to scoop 1 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough. You should be able to scoop about 30 cookie dough balls. Roll the balls smooth between your hands and flatten slightly. Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the chilled dough balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheet, and bake for about 7-8 minutes.
TIP: For perfectly round cookies, use a round biscuit cutter to quickly “scoot” it around the cookies while they’re hot, immediately after taking the pan out of the oven.
- Cool the cookies on the pan for several minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months, until ready to top your cupcakes.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a muffin pan with 15 paper liners.
- With an electric mixer, either stand or hand held, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg whites and beat for 1 minute.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream and vanilla extract.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Mix well for about 15 seconds, then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter between the cups, filling them no more than 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes, until gently risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove and set on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined but clumpy.
- Add the caramel sauce and vanilla. Increase the speed to medium (#6 on a Kitchen Aid mixer), and whip for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down occasionally. Turn the speed down to “stir” and mix for 1 more minute.
Assembly
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, and fill with the buttercream. Pipe swirls of buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes, then sprinkle with the chocolate chips.
- Top each cupcake with a mini chocolate chip cookie.
TIP: If you feel like your cookies are a little too big for a cupcake topper, use a 1 1/2 inch round cutter to cut out smaller rounds from each cookie, before placing them on top of your cupcakes.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make the cookies in advance?
You can bake the cookies, let them cool, then store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. They’ll be just as soft as the day you made them when you thaw them out.
Can these cupcakes be made in advance?
You can bake the cupcakes and frost them one day in advance, keeping them stored in an airtight container at room temperature. If making the cupcakes the day before, you may want to brush them with a little milk to help keep them moist.
Wait to add the cookie on top until you’re ready to serve the cupcakes. You don’t want to store the cupcakes with the cookies, since the cookies could pull moisture from the cupcakes and dry them out.
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High Altitude Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 1 recipe Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- ½ cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips
Cupcakes
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 3 large egg whites (save the yolks for another use)
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup whole milk, room temperature
- ½ cup full fat sour cream, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips
Buttercream
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp meringue powder
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ½ tbsp caramel sauce
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Cookies
- Prepare the recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough as instructed. However, instead of the regular sized chocolate chips called for in the recipe, use 1/2 cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips.
- Use a small cookie scoop with a release lever to scoop 1 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough. You should be able to scoop about 30 cookie dough balls. Roll the balls smooth between your hands and flatten slightly. Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the chilled dough balls 2 inches apart on the baking sheet, and bake for about 7-8 minutes.Tip: For perfectly round cookies, use a round biscuit cutter to quickly "scoot" it around the cookies while they're hot, immediately after taking the pan out of the oven.
- Cool the cookies on the pan for several minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months, until ready to top your cupcakes.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a muffin pan with 15 paper liners.
- With an electric mixer, either stand or hand held, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg whites and beat for 1 minute.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream and vanilla extract.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Mix well for about 15 seconds, then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter between the cups, filling them no more than 3/4 full.
- Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes, until gently risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove and set on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined but clumpy.
- Add the caramel sauce and vanilla. Increase the speed to medium (#6 on a Kitchen Aid mixer), and whip for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down occasionally. Turn the speed down to "stir" and mix for 1 more minute.
Assembly
- Fit a piping bag with tip 1M, and fill with the buttercream. Pipe swirls of buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes, then sprinkle with the chocolate chips.
- Top each cupcake with a mini chocolate chip cookie.Tip: If you feel like your cookies are a little too big for a cupcake topper, use a 1 1/2 inch round cutter to cut out smaller rounds from each cookie, before placing them on top of your cupcakes.
So we don’t chill the cookies for 25 minutes like in the cookie recipe? We chill for 1 hour?
Yes. The longer chill time helps maintain their smaller size so they don’t spread too much.
Thanks! I made the cookies and they turned out great. I’m excited to make the cupcake portion tomorrow and assemble them for Easter Sunday. Can the cookies go in the fridge? Or should i just leave them in the air tight container for a day or so on the counter?
I usually freeze those cookies to keep them fresh in advance. If you keep them at room temp, you can also put a piece of sandwich bread in the container to keep the cookies soft.