Full disclosure, I am tired. Like in-my-bones tired. It’s been a long week and I haven’t been sleeping well and I just can’t seem to get my brain to concentrate on this blog post. I would say I’m trying my best, but I am actually trying as much as I absolutely have to and not the tiniest bit more. It’s that sort of day.I usually take pride in writing a “real” blog post, but was tempted today to just leave it at “Um, hi. I took cookie cake and threw sprinkles in there and made it smaller. Oh, and there’s a plume of vanilla buttercream on each one. Funfetti Cookie Cupcakes, y’all!” …and leave it at that. I mean, that about sums it up, right?Well, almost. It doesn’t tell you that these Funfetti Cookie Cupcakes were born because I deeply miss baking for groups. I really wanted to make a cookie cake for weeks, but resisted because who would I share it with?

When the thought of cookie cupcakes popped into my head, it only took me a day to make them and a few more hours before I found some friends to give them away to in exchange for petting their dog and some homemade lemon-basil sorbet. I doesn’t tell you how incredibly heartening it was to see (masked) familiar faces and love on my pup friend and casually envy someone else’s ice cream machine, even though I absolutely do not need another piece of kitchen equipment.That rambling, incoherent, grammatically incorrect blurb says nothing of how the exteriors of these little cookie cakes crackle ever-so-slightly against your teeth when you first bite in, or how the centers are a tad underbaked and chewy like almost every great cookie out there. Just like their larger counterparts, these tiny cakes are a bit sunken in the center, perfect for holding a copious amount of frosting. That sentence doesn’t tell you that even when these aren’t fresh and get a little crumbly, they are still pretty wonderful, as all things topped with a small mountain of vanilla buttercream are.There’s no mention of how much I absolutely love sprinkles, and how even though they mostly just taste sweet and waxy, I consider them (combined with vanilla and almond extracts) a flavor profile all their own. The little pops of color in and on these Funfetti Cookie Cupcakes make me happy, as does their buttery sugar cookie flavor. These are like having everything I’m nostalgic for all rolled into one single-serve dessert.And speaking of single servings, that half-assed blog “post” I wanted to write has one more gross oversight. These are perfect for socially-distanced celebrating or for delivering to someone you love and can’t really see right now. It doesn’t tell you that even though you bake all the time, even when you are tired and feel uninspired, making these will feel nothing like work and completely like joy. And how even when you’re a completely depleted puddle of a human who needs a weekend so badly it’s ridiculous, you’ll find a way to find the words to say it all.

Funfetti Cookie Cupcakes
makes 2 dozen cookie cupcakes

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed (not dark brown sugar)
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract or imitation butter extract (optional)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles (jimmies, not nonpareils)

For Garnish:
Vanilla Buttercream (recipe below)
rainbow sprinkles (jimmies or nonpareils)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a medium-large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Mix in egg and yolk, vanilla and optional almond extract. Stir in flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold in rainbow sprinkles (jimmies). Scoop dough in 1 1/2 tablespoon increments and press into prepared cupcake liners. Bake 12-13 minutes, until the tops no longer appears shiny and the edges are just slightly golden. Centers may not be fully puffed when baking is finished and will sink a bit during cooling.

Let cookie cupcakes cool 20 minutes in the pan on a rack before removing to the rack to cool completely.

Remove cupcake liners, if desired. Pipe vanilla buttercream into the center of each cookie cupcake (recipe below). Top with rainbow sprinkles.

Decorated cookie cupcakes will keep at room temperature for up to two days, or in the refrigerator for up to five.

Vanilla Buttercream
makes enough for 2 dozen cookie cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

In a medium-large mixing bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in confectioner’s sugar in two installments, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Beat in salt, followed by vanilla. Add heavy cream by the tablespoon until desired consistency is reached.

How to pipe: Stand a piping bag fitted with a coupler and star tip in a tall cup and fold any bag overhang over the outside. Use a silicone spatula or spoon to “load” 1/3-1/2 of the buttercream into the bag. Unfold bag overhang and lift piping bag out the cup.

Press frosting toward the tip. Twist bag overhang closed and hold tight between your thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand, letting the main portion of the bag be held by your palm and remaining fingers. Use your non-dominant hand to tap the bag a couple of times to dislodge any air bubbles. Pipe a dab or two of frosting onto a surface or small plate, just to get the buttercream going in the right direction.

Pipe buttercream into each cookie cupcake, refilling the bag when necessary.