Easy Cookie Dough Frosting (not grainy)

This cookie dough frosting is made with heat treated flour and without eggs making it safe to eat! It combines the creamy smoothness of a buttercream frosting with the unmistakeable cookie dough flavor. With mini chocolate chips added to the icing, it’s the perfect topping for cookie dough cupcakes.

When I was creating this recipe I wanted to make sure that it had two things:

• A non grainy, smooth, and creamy base.
• Cookie dough flavor!

A lot of recipes call for brown sugar in the frosting, which is essential to creating that cookie dough flavor. But most of them just add the brown sugar to the recipe without cooking it down first, and this is what makes it grainy, and in my opinion, not so much fun to eat.

As a professionally trained baker, I really wanted to make a smooth frosting, so instead of adding brown sugar directly to the frosting base, I decided to melt it down with water to make it smooth.

It does take an extra few minutes unlike my other 5 minute frostings like caramel frosting, coffee frosting, or classic vanilla frosting because it has to cool, but it is so worth it!

For a real cookie dough lover, make sure you top them over these cookie dough cupcakes or on top of these chocolate fudge cupcakes.

I also love that you dont have to make an actual cookie dough for this recipe. The process is straightforward and simple, let me show you how to make it!

Heat treating the flour

Flour in frosting? I know, sounds weird, but it helps give the recipe that distinct cookie dough flavor, plus it bulks it up and helps with the thick consistency.

Since the rest of the ingredients in this recipe will be eaten raw, the flour first needs to be heat treated. Raw flour can contain traces of salmonella so if you’re going to eat it raw, it needs to be cooked first.

Heat treating flour is simple and can be done 2 ways.

1. Spread the flour on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes on 350° F, then let the four cool.
2. Add the flour to a microwaveable safe bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Mix, then microwave for another 30 seconds.

In both circumstances you want to let the flour cool before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.

You also have to do this same process if you make the cookie dough cupcakes. The first time I made them I was lazy and didnt wait for it to cool. The heat from the flour ended up melting all the mini chocolate chips and the cookie dough looked marbled and weird.

Cool the flour! Don’t make the same mistake I did.

Melt the brown sugar

Like I mentioned above, to make sure the base texture of the frosting is smooth and not grainy, melting the brown sugar is the next step. Actually you should do this while the flour is in the oven, and let them both cool at the same time.

Combine brown sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Turn to low, then mix until the sugar is all melted. You can test it by taking some out with a spoon- make sure it’s cool, then test it out with your fingers. If the texture is still gritty it needs another minute.

Cool!

Make the rest of the frosting

Now you’ll start just like any other of the beginning steps in my homemade frosting recipes.

Add softened butter and powdered sugar to a mixing bowl and mix on low moving up to medium speed. Add in the cooled heat treated flour. The mixture wont come together right away, it will still look dry and crumbly but thats normal!

With the mixer on low, pour in the brown sugar syrup. Mix until combined. This is when it will start to look like frosting. Add the cream to loosen it up and add a little creaminess. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute to fluff up.

It’s time to add the chocolate chips! I recommend using mini chocolate chips- they blend better into the frosting and make it a lot easier to spread onto cupcakes or cake. If you only have the big ones I would chop them up instead of using them whole.

Decorating

If you want to pipe this frosting you need to use a very wide open round tip like this Ateco 809 tip ( a favorite of mine when I worked at a custom cake place bakery)

If you use a smaller tip or a different shape, the chocolate chips will get stuck and you wont be able to frost that way.

Storage

No need to put this frosting in the fridge, you can leave it out at room temperature as long as it is stored well. To store you can put it in an airtight container, or you can lay it out on a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it up making sure there is no exposure to air.

I love when you share my recipes!!