Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Anytime I know I need (or want) to make cupcakes I turn to the fabulous Annie's blog; Annie Eats. Her cupcake recipes are by far the best I've ever had. I've blogged about her amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cupcakes and her Apple Pie cupcakes. Now I have yet another amazing cupcake to write about! As soon as we received the invitation to our friends 30th surprise party I immediately volunteered for cupcakes. I knew that these would be a crowd pleaser, and as always, I  was correct!!! Although I'm not a big fan of oreo's (gasp, I know--I've never had a love affair with this cookie like most American's do) I was pleased with how they turned out. As one guest proclaimed "this is the most amazing cupcake I've ever had". I on the other hand would much rather chow down on some chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. So as I handed off my half oreo to a friend sitting next to me I tried to enjoy the cupcake as a whole, and not think about the oreo's. I was very pleased with the actual cake portion and the frosting tasted just like the middle of an oreo *sans one cup of sugar (way too sweet in my opinion). I hope you'll bake these up the next time you have a special event in your life. Lastly, to my friend... Happy 30th Birthday!

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 18-20 minutes
Serves: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

**For the cake**

• 24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped 

**For the frosting**

• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted (I only used 3 cups and it was plenty sweet)
• 2 tbsp heavy cream

**For the garnish**

• Oreo cookie crumbs
• 24 oreo cookies, halved

Directions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners.  Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.  Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

2. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

3. To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.  Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.

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