Alton Brown’s “The Puffy”

As you all know, I love Alton Brown. I’ve made a few of his recipes recently including his overnight cinnamon rolls and his famous chewy chocolate chip cookie. He did a great episode of Good Eats where he created three very different versions of chocolate chip cookie by making slight variations of the Nestle Tollhouse recipe.

To say I really enjoyed “The Chewy” is an understatement. It is delicious. I can’t rave about it enough. I decided to try out another recipe from the episode “The Puffy”.

I didn’t have any butter flavored shortening, so I ended up using 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. These cookies were very puffy when they came out of the oven, but they deflated quite a bit as they cooled. The cake flour gives these cookies a great texture and this is another great chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I much prefer The Chewy. I just like chewy cookies.

The Puffy – from Alton Brown – I got 4 dozen cookies using my cookie scoop1 cup butter-flavored shortening – I used 1/2 cup shortening + 1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the shortening (and butter), sugar, and brown sugar in a bowl, and cream until light and fluffy. Sift together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside.

Add the eggs 1 at a time to the creamed mixture. Add vanilla. Increase the speed until thoroughly incorporated.

With the mixer set to low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough (I chilled the dough overnight). Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 per sheet (I used a my regular sized cookie scoop to get smaller cookies). Bake for 13 minutes (mine baked for about 9 minutes) or until golden brown and puffy, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool and store in an airtight-container.

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16 Responses to “Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes”

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    yumventures — March 10, 2010 at 1:53 pm

    Mmmm amazing! I love all of the different flavors in each part of the recipe! Perfect for the 17th…maybe even with a drop of green food coloring =)

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    Sunshine — March 10, 2010 at 2:28 pm

    I’ve been wanting to make a version of htis for awhile and almost did this weekend. Now my plan is tackle them for St. Pat’s. Thanks for reminding me to do this.

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    Jes — March 10, 2010 at 4:33 pm

    My husband and his Army buddies LOVE these cupcakes! I get requests for them almost weekly!

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    Cara — March 10, 2010 at 4:40 pm

    sounds so good!! I could go for one now 🙂

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    nutmegnanny — March 10, 2010 at 7:48 pm

    Well I love Irish Car Bombs so in dessert form I know I would love it even more!

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    Carly — March 10, 2010 at 8:10 pm

    Wow – I am dying to try these. They look amazing!

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    Xiaolu — March 10, 2010 at 9:14 pm

    Wow these look amazing. That looks like the perfect amount of frosting, too.

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    Joanne — March 11, 2010 at 12:17 am

    I made these for a friend’s birthday last month and absolutely fell in love with them. They are the perfect St. Patty’s day cupcake. Or any day really. My friends proclaimed them the best they had ever tasted. Yours look fantastic!

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    Brisbane Baker — March 11, 2010 at 8:07 am

    What a wonderful recipe! And just in time for St Pats 😀

    BB

    Check me out.
    http://www.brisbanebaker.blogspot.com

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    Kerstin — March 12, 2010 at 3:17 am

    Mmm, they look amazing and are so perfect for St. Patty’s Day – yum!

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    Samantha Kate — March 12, 2010 at 8:17 am

    Wow these are some fancy looking cupcakes! Great job 🙂

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    Shayna — October 9, 2010 at 2:34 am

    I’m still in the process of making these…(Have yet to Ice and taste) But My ganache didn’t come out right…I stayed runny even when completely cooled and I can’t figure out what I did wrong 🙁

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    Jen — October 11, 2010 at 12:47 am

    Shayna – So sorry to hear the ganache didn’t set up. Did you try putting it in the fridge? I’ve never had that issue…

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    Richele McHenry — March 14, 2013 at 3:35 pm

    I am ready to make these but I do not have enough bittersweet chocolate for the ganache. Can I use semi-sweet or unsweetened chocolate? Will it still taste okay?

    • beantownbaker — March 16th, 2013 @ 2:49 pm

      Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. Semisweet would work ok, I wouldn’t use unsweetened.

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    Kristina — July 24, 2015 at 1:35 pm

    Have you ever made these into a cake? I have made them multiple times and love them but was hoping to make this into a cake for a birthday. Any thoughts?

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