Boston cream pie cookie cups take the familiar cake, custard, and chocolate combination and make it small enough to hold in one hand. The base is a soft vanilla cookie baked in a muffin pan. Pastry cream fills the center, and ganache finishes the top. The four-hour total includes chilling, so this is a plan-ahead dessert rather than a last-minute one. I like that the parts can be made in stages. I also like that a slightly uneven swirl of chocolate looks completely at home here.

How the three textures fit together

Cornstarch appears in both the cookie dough and pastry cream, doing a different job in each. In the dough, it helps keep the cookie cups tender. In the filling, it thickens the milk into a custard sturdy enough to sit inside the cup. The cookie edges should be just golden when they leave the oven. A center that looks a little underdone will firm as it cools.

The ganache uses semisweet chocolate, heavy cream, and a spoonful of corn syrup. The syrup helps it stay smooth and glossy. Chill it until pipeable, but not rock hard. Five-second microwave bursts can loosen it if needed.

The custard deserves full attention

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Pastry cream is not difficult, though it does object to multitasking. Stir the sugar, cornstarch, and milk continuously over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbling. Simmer for two minutes. Whisk a little of the hot milk mixture into the beaten yolks before returning everything to the saucepan. This tempers the yolks so they do not scramble.

Bring the mixture to a light boil and cook for another two minutes while stirring. Remove it from the heat, add butter and vanilla, then press plastic wrap directly against the surface. Refrigerate until cool. Because the filling contains egg yolks, keep the assembled cookie cups refrigerated.

Bake the cups, then build them cold

Heat the oven to 350°F and coat a standard muffin pan with nonstick spray. Cream the butter and sugar for 3 to 4 minutes, then mix in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. The finished dough will be thick and sticky.

Use about two tablespoons for each cup. Press the dough across the bottom and partway up the sides. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. If the centers rise too much, press them gently with the bottom of a tablespoon while they are warm. Cool before removing them from the pan.

Fill each cup with about a tablespoon of cold pastry cream and pipe ganache over the top. Store them airtight in the refrigerator until serving. The supplied estimate is 342 calories per cookie cup. Let them sit out briefly before eating so the cookie and ganache lose their refrigerator firmness.

The components are easier to manage if you split the work. Bake the cookie cups and make the pastry cream first. While both cool, prepare the ganache. Keep the unfilled cups covered at room temperature once cool, and refrigerate the custard with its surface protected. Assemble the desserts after every component is cold. Warm custard softens the cookies, while warm ganache can slide off the filling. A piping bag makes a neat top, but a teaspoon and a small swirl work just as well.

When removing the cups, loosen one edge gently and lift rather than twisting. If a cup cracks, save it for the cook. The custard and ganache cover small flaws once assembled.

Print Recipe

Boston Cream Pie Cookie Cups

Author: Yas Sine Cooking Method: Baking Cuisine: American Courses: Dessert Recipes Recipe Keys: C Chocolate C Creamy M Make-Ahead

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 240 mins Cook Time 12 mins Total Time 4 hrs 12 mins

Cooking Temp: 350  C Servings: 18 Calories: 342

Description

These muffin-pan cookie cups layer a tender vanilla base with chilled custard and smooth ganache.

Ingredients:

Servings

• ³⁄₄ cup Cookie cups: unsalted butter
• 1 cup Cookie cups: sugar
• 1 egg Cookie cups:
• 1 ¹⁄₂ tsp Cookie cups: vanilla
• 2 cups Cookie cups: flour
• 1 tsp Cookie cups: baking soda
• 2 tsp Cookie cups: cornstarch
• ¹⁄₄ tsp Cookie cups: salt
• 2 egg Pastry cream: yolks
• 6 tbsp Pastry cream: sugar
• 1 ¹⁄₂ tbsp Pastry cream: cornstarch
• 1 cup Pastry cream: milk
• 1 tbsp Pastry cream: butter
• 1 tsp Pastry cream: vanilla
• 6 oz Ganache: semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp Ganache: corn syrup
• 7 tbsp Ganache: heavy cream.

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F and spray a muffin pan.
2. 
Cream butter and sugar 3 to 4 minutes; add egg and vanilla, then dry ingredients.
3. 
Press 2 tbsp dough into each cup and bake 10 to 12 minutes.
4. 
Press centers down while warm and cool.
5. 
Cook pastry cream, tempering yolks, and chill with wrap touching the surface.
6. 
Pour hot cream and corn syrup over chocolate; rest 2 to 3 minutes, whisk, and chill.
7. 
Fill cups with about 1 tbsp custard and top with ganache.
8. 
Refrigerate..

Note

Keep refrigerated because the pastry cream contains egg yolks. Nutrition per cup: 342 calories, 46g carbohydrates, 5g protein, 16g fat, 9g saturated fat, 113mg sodium, 62mg cholesterol, 1g fiber, 23g sugar.

Keywords: Creamy, Chocolate, Make Ahead