M&M's® Red Velvet Cookie Dough Filled Red Velvet Cupcakes

These M&M's® Red Velvet Cookie Dough Filled Cupcakes add an extra touch to traditional red velvet cupcakes and are brought to you in part by Collective Bias® and its advertiser. These red velvet cupcakes are filled with cookie dough made with M&M's® Red Velvet, then topped with a cream cheese frosting and will surely make your family and friends feel extra special, especially during Valentine's Day!  As always, the recipe and the opinions in this post are my own. #RedVelvetLove #CollectiveBias

Valentine's Day is not just for your special someone, it's also about showing appreciation and love to your friends and family... this does not have to be done with extravagant gifts, but often the smallest of gestures are the ones most appreciated and sometimes the most memorable! I have a great recipe for you to share with your friends and family this Valentine's Day, M&M's® Red Velvet Cookie Dough Filled Red Velvet Cupcakes!

One of the things I love about the holidays is the plethora of holiday candy available, especially the special seasonal candy like M&M's® specially flavored candies. I discovered these M&M's® Red Velvet candies at Walmart and knew that I had to incorporate this into an extra special recipe this year!

Look at all these Valentine's candies!!

After picking up several bags of M&M's® Red Velvet, I thought for awhile about how I can make a classic Valentine's day recipe even more amazing. Everyone loves red velvet cupcakes-- they're absolutely beautiful with a rich red color and topped with a creamy and tangy cream cheese frosting. So I decided to "up" the classic recipe and stuff them with cookie dough made with M&M's® Red Velvet! They are a great surprise when you bite into them and makes an already special treat even more special.

These are great to share with your family and friends this Valentine's. The recipe is relatively easy, though it requires a lot of steps and is more time consuming, I'm not going to lie... but the outcome is so impressive and everyone will appreciate the time and love that you put into makes these especially for them! What are you doing to help make your family and friends feel loved this year?

See more great M&M's® Red Velvet recipe and party ideas at myconfectioncorner.com/valentines-day where you can also download a coupon to save on your M&M's® purchase.

M&M's® Red Velvet Cookie Dough Filled Cupcakes
A Tortillas and Honey original recipe

M&M's® Red Velvet Cookie Dough:
1/2 c. butter, room temperature (1 stick)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tbs. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. M&M's® Red Velvet, roughly chopped

Red Velvet Cupcakes:
1 1/2 c. cake flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. Tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature (1/2 stick or 4 Tbs.)
1/2 c. vegetable or canola oil
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbs red food coloring
1/2 tsp. cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. buttermilk

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick)
1 1/2 - 2 c. powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt


Cookie Dough Filling:
Using a stand of electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the milk and vanilla, then beat until smooth. Mix in flour and salt. Fold in the M&M's®.

Take about a tablespoon of the dough roll into a ball, and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough, making around 18-20 cookie dough balls. Place in the freezer for about an hour, until firm.


Red Velvet Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350. Line 18-20 cupcakes liners in muffin tins.

Sift together the cake flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder.

Using a stand of electric mixer, cream together butter, oil, sugar on medium speed until pale and thick, about 5-7 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after adding each egg. Add in the food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla and mix until well combined, 1-2 minutes. Add in 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix to combine. Add in half the buttermilk and to combine. Repeat these steps with the rest of the ingredients, ending with the flour mixture and mix for another 1-2 minutes.

To assemble the cupcakes, pour about a tablespoon of cake batter into each of the liners. Then place a ball of cookie dough into each of the liners. Pour more of the cake batter on top of the cookie dough so that it is coated and the liner is about halfway filled-- the cookie dough will be sticking out of the batter, but make sure that you have the cookie dough coated but not covered completely with batter. (You don't need to fill them 2/3 like usual because of the cookie dough in the middle; too much batter will puff up above the liner and will take longer for the batter to cook on top because of the cookie dough.)

Bake 15-20 minutes, until the tops of the cupcakes are slightly firm to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the top of the cake (but careful not to prick the cookie dough). Allow cupcakes to cool completely before you ice them!


Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, using a stand mixer or an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar slowly in small batches, beating on low speed until incorporated. Once all sugar has been added, add in a small pinch of salt, and increase the speed to high and mix until light and fluffy. Refrigerate for 1 hour so that the cream cheese firms up and makes it easier to ice the cupcakes.

Ice the cupcakes using a pastry bag with a star tip, starting from the edge of the cupcake and swirling into the middle of the cupcake. Garnish with M&M's® Red Velvet, and refrigerate until ready to serve.


Makes about 18-20 cupcakes.
This recipe can be easily doubled if you'd like to give out more!