Ding Dong Cupcakes are rich, moist and chocolaty stuffed with creamy marshmallow filling and smothered in a silky chocolate ganache! You will never want to buy Ding Dongs from the store again!
Instead of stocking stuffers for Christmas every year, I stuff my Target cart to overflowing with a whole lot of nothing – beef jerky, Pringles, trail mix, everything Little Debbies and everything Hostess and on and on – all the junk food we never buy – all bought at once for Patrick, because they are his favorites – including lots and lots of Ding Dongs. So now that our stash of Ding Dong’s are long gone, I figured it was time for homemade Ding Dongs! Luckily, I spotted a recipe for Ding Dong Cupcakes from Cook’s Country and I knew that if they were anything like my Homemade Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Creme Pies then they were going to be better than the original. These are better than the original.
These Ding Dong Cupcakes start with a rich, moist, chocolaty cupcake that is double infused with chocolate from cocoa powder and melted chocolate chips. The cupcakes are so moist that you can’t use a pastry bag to pump the filling right into the center (a very good sign). Instead, you cut the center out to make room for your creamy marshmallow filling that is a delectable mixture of marshmallow creme, butter and some gelatin to help it set. You might be tempted to leave out the gelatin but the filling sinks without it – with it, its perfectly creamy, perfectly delicious…
And perfectly ready for you to devour…
And to become one of your new favorites year-round!
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Ding Dong Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup Vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Filling
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, (½ stick)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 7 oz. marshmallow fluff crème (1 ¼ cups)
Chocolate Ganache Glaze
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 tablespoon corn syrup (optional)
- 4 oz bakers semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- CUPCAKES: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour (or use nonstick cooking spray with flour) a12-cup muffin tin.
- Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together water, cocoa, and chocolate chips together until smooth. Add sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix until combined. Whisk in flour mixture alternating with sour cream until incorporated.
- Divide batter evenly among greased muffin cups. Bake18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool cupcakes in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely.
- FILLING: Meanwhile, combine water and gelatin in large bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes then microwave until mixture is bubbling around edges and gelatin dissolves, about 30 seconds. Stir in butter, vanilla, and salt until combined. Let mixture cool until just warm to touch, about 5 minutes. When slightly cooled, whisk in marshmallow creme until smooth.
- Refrigerate filling until set, about 30 minutes. Transfer ⅓ cup marshmallow mixture to pastry bag fitted with small plain tip (or to a plastic bag and snip the corner) and reserve remaining mixture for filling cupcakes.
- CHOCOLATE GLAZE: Add heavy cream and butter to a large microwave safe bowl and heat for two minutes, stir to combine. Heat at 30 second intervals if butter is not completely melted at this point. Add chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth then stir in corn syrup. Let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.
- ASSEMBLE: Insert a knife at approximately ¼ inch from the edge of each cupcake, and proceed to cut a cone shape. Remove cone and cut all but the circular top off (“top”) – or just eat the bottom of the cone. Using a spoon, fill each cupcake with the marshmallow filling then add “top.” Lightly frost with Chocolate Ganache Glaze. Let set then pipe reserved marshmallow filling in decorative pattern on top.
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Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
This is absolutely sinful, decadent, and delicious!! WOW!! Diet?? Whose on a diet. Not with this kind of recipe around. YUM!! Jen, I simply can’t wait to make these. Have you tried doing anything with Twinkies??
Jen says
haha – its never a good day to start a diet with a food blog :)! I am excited for you to try these too! I haven’t tried anything with twinkies but I need too – they are an old school fav for sure! I’ll work on it 🙂
mila says
OF COURSE you would make these 🙂 Ahhh they look so incredible!!! It’s like what ding dong dreams are made of 🙂 And judging by how delicious that cake was that you brought to our conference I am sure I would be drooling all over these and cheating 🙂
Jen says
bahaha! I would make these, so I could eat these :)! they are definitely a great excuse to cheat, highly recommend it 🙂 You are so sweet, so happy you enjoyed the cake! That was so fun, I am anxious for another retreat so we can all get together! xo
Natalie R says
These look delicious! In the directions, you say to whisk the water, cocoa powder and chocolate chips until smooth – I assume they should be melted first?
Jen says
Hi Natalie! No, the heat of the boiling water will melt the chocolate chips. You can either microwave the water to boiling or boil it on the stove – just be sure to boil more than 1/2 cup then measure out half a cup to use. Hope this helps, enjoy!
Natalie R says
Oops! Missed the boiling water part 🙂 makes sense now – thanks!
Jen says
No worries! You are so welcome!
Vahini Manohar says
My mom tried it for me because I am favorite of sweet recipes. Ding Dong Cupcakes made me a kid to eat 7 cupcakes at a time.
Jen says
LOL! 7 at a time is the best way to eat cupcakes! I’m so glad they made you feel like a kid again 🙂
Laura Dembowski says
Omg! Yes you everything about these. I have a stash of junk food in he house at all times, though I ration it because. … you know …. moderation. 🙂
Jen says
LOL! and yay for a stash of junk food! Moderation is best in all things, right? – except maybe Ding Dong Cupcakes 🙂
Barb says
Do you have to use a mixer for the cake mixture?
Jen says
Nope! you can definitively whisk by hand – enjoy Barb!
Kristine says
SOOO DELICIOUS! I just made these for a Halloween party and I’m sure kids gonna love them! I sure am in LOVE with this recipe! <3 Thank you!
Jen says
YAY! I am thrilled you loved them so much and what a fun Halloween Treat! Thank you Kristine!!
Deepika says
The name “Ding Dong cupcakes” attracted me on Pinterest. Now after reading the recipe, I will surely make it. They look delicious.
Jen says
Thank you so much! I hope you love them as much as us!
Zuzu Petals says
They look delicious! They’d be good with ice cream as well. Perfect for parties. Yum.
Jen says
Thank you so much! Yes, absolutely perfect for parties and ice cream makes everything better!
Natalie V. says
Do these keep in the fridge or is it airtight container fine?
Jen says
Hi Natalie! They just need to be kept in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Amy says
Can I use coconut flour for these?
Jen says
Hi Amy, unfortunately I have not tried it with coconut flour so I can’t tell you if i would be successful. In general, I know you usually need less coconut flour and more eggs.
Melissa Hash says
Look yummy!!!…. but my ganache didn’t get too thick, even after waiting 30 min. My cupcakes got super puffy so the top piece isn’t really laying flat…maybe I didn’t cut enough from the plug? Can’t wait to eat them for dessert tonight!
Jen says
Hi Melissa, the ganache might just need more time to thicken – it can’t not get thick after chilling. If the tops are too fluffy, you can even them out a little no one will know! enjoy!
Martha Heagany says
The recipe counter does not increase or decrease ingredient amounts….just want to confirm that this receipe as stated is only for FOUR cupcakes? Thanks so much.
Jen says
My apologies Martha, my recipe plugin is going bonkers, this recipe makes 12 cupcakes. I have a new site design coming this week which will fix all the problems!
Martha Heagany says
Totally understand. Thanks for the prompt response! These sound delicious.
You may get lots of hits today as someone linked the recipe on The New York Times Cooking Community group page on Facebook today! They have close to 76K members. Might be fun for you to check your website (this recipe’s link) traffic today!
Thanks again Jen.
Jen says
Thanks for the heads up Martha! I always love new visitors!