And the winners are…

Saturday, October 18, 2008

First for the throwdown – chocolate cupcake style. AND on National Chocolate Cupcake Day! How fitting. I made a half batch of the chocolate cake (I got 15 cupcakes) out of Confetti Cakes for Kids by Elisa Strauss. The recipe is definitely “fussier” than my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. This one has sour cream and coffee in it. Neither of which are staples in my kitchen. I paired it with the Brown Sugar frosting because I was intrigued by that idea…

The batter came together quite nicely. It does take 3 bowls and like I mentioned, has some ingredients that I had to send hubby out to grab for me… It does have some great flavor combinations going on. It’s got almond extract as well as vanilla and includes coffee. Both almond and coffee go great with chocolate. The batter was quite thick and very tasty. Hubby really enjoyed licking the beater 🙂 And this frosting is AMAZING. We both agreed, it’s one of the best I’ve ever made. Think of a caramel Swiss-meringue buttercream. It paired perfectly with the chocolate cupcake.

Now to the Throw-down results. I’m basing this on 3 categories: Overall Taste, Ease of making, Moistness

Overall Taste – hands down goes to the Confetti cupcake. It is amazing.

Ease of making – definitely goes to my go-to cupcake. So much easier and I always have everything on hand.

Moistness – this is a tie. Both of these recipes yield very moist cupcakes. It’s because of the oil in one and sour cream in the other.

So it’s a TIE!?! I’ll definitely keep my go-to chocolate cupcake for when I just want to whip something up. It’s quick and easy and the results are great. But when I want to go the extra mile, I’ll make the Confetti cupcakes. It does take more effort, but the results are worth it. I’m not going to post the recipe here, but definitely I definitely recommend checking out Confetti Cakes for Kids by Elisa Strauss.

Now on to the GIVEAWAY!! I almost forgot about it after these amazing cupcakes. Thanks to everyone who participated! Using Random.org, I chose 5 random numbers from 1-79 and the lucky winners are…

Megan – who’s email begins with mybakingadventures
Chrissy – who’s email begins with chrissyblogs
Grifam93 – who’s email begins with aseminara
Jared – who’s email begins with jared
MoonFreckle – who’s email begins with angelaj

Congratulations to the winners!

Thanks to everyone who participated. If you won, send me an email at beantownbaker[at]gmail[dot]com with your address and your book will be at your house in no time. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I already have!

Cupcakes, Dessert

3 comments »

13 Responses to “Alton Brown’s “The Chewy””

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Bridget — March 5, 2009 at 6:02 pm

Aren’t they the best? They’re so addicting. I’ve actually starting using the same ingredients, but mixing them like a more traditional chocolate chip cookie (i.e., softened butter instead of melted), because I like the dough better with softened butter. The baked cookies were just as good. Best of both worlds!
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Laure — March 5, 2009 at 9:45 pm

These look gorgeous. Don’t you just love AB??? 🙂
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Julie — March 6, 2009 at 4:06 am

The cookies look great. I love AB too..he’s such a dork (in a good way).
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CoCo — March 6, 2009 at 5:50 am

I love the ATK/CI Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. I will have to try these to see what I think. I remember seeing that the recipes looked similar so I am sure I will love them.
Another AB lover here. My husband gives me a hard time about my DVR list with him but loves it when I give him a fun tidbit or cook him something from AB.
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Jen — March 6, 2009 at 1:34 pm

I completely agree CoCo. Hubby does the same thing. I sometimes even watch episodes I’ve seen before! Hubby doesn’t like to admit it, but he loves AB too. Sometimes he’ll be the one saying “AB says to do this…”
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foodess — March 9, 2009 at 3:38 am

They look SO good!! I am a sucker for a chewy chocolate chip cookie. Although, I must side with your hubby – I prefer mine with just a bit of chocolate.
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Naomi — March 9, 2009 at 6:46 am

How much is a stick of butter? I’m not in the US and have never come across this measurement before.
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Jen — March 9, 2009 at 11:08 am

Sorry about that Naomi – 1 stick of butter = 8 Tbsp. Does that help?
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Dani — March 9, 2009 at 11:46 am

this is very similar to the ccc recipe i use, but anything that makes it chewier is good in my books! i will have to keep this one in mind 🙂
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Naomi — March 13, 2009 at 10:05 am

Yes Jen, thank you!
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Allie — June 2, 2010 at 8:43 pm

Yum! I will definitely be trying these. I always chill my cookie dough too usually because I’m too busy with 3 little ones but I also read that article in the NY times awhile ago and I felt like I deserved a nice big pat on the back for always doing the 24hour chill 🙂 Great post and beautiful cookies!
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Susan — June 23, 2015 at 4:41 pm

I love Alton Brown because of his scientific approach to cooking and baking. I’ve been baking “The Chewy” for years. One thing I do differently: Before chilling the dough, I scoop it into balls. This makes the process much easier. Sometimes I freeze the balls for baking later. After I place the balls on parchment, I carefully place a few extra chocolate morsels on top, pointy side up. This extra step produces picture-perfect cookies every time.
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Desiree — July 2, 2016 at 1:56 am

The Chewy is my go to recipe for cookies. I make a few alterations, occasionally, such as substituting 1/4 of the brown sugar with dark brown sugar. I bake small portions in mini muffin tins; one batch makes 48 cookie bites that are super chewy and the perfect size bite. I’ve made them every year for Christmas gifts for a few years now.