Oreo Cupcakes

On a recent trip to California, I was pretty bummed that I didn't get to head into a Sprinkles cupcake shop and try one of their cupcakes.  Some say the cupcakes are overrated, but others say they are the best ever.  Regardless, I wanted to judge for myself and try one of their famous cupcakes that put cupcake bakery shops on the map.  But, I didn't get to.

So, since then, I've been obsessing thinking about cupcakes.

When I get struck with a craving, my world pretty much stops until I fill the void that is obviously missing in my life.  I never noticed how important cupcakes were until I didn't have them in my life. Cupcakes were popping up everywhere in the food blog world.  There were recipes appearing in my food magazines.  It turned into total chaos when I turned on the tv: a marathon showing of DC Cupcakes.  A marathon showing of Cupcake Girls.  A marathon showing of Cupcake Wars!  The final straw was when I saw a cupcake throwdown on Food Network.

Damn it.  I NEEDED a cupcake.  And I needed a cupcake that was going to satisfy this craving (which means, not one of those sad looking cupcakes from a grocery store) and put an end to my cupcake daydreaming.

So, even though I have come to realize that I will forever be unhappy with kitchen appliances until I can purchase MY OWN and bake in MY OWN house, I decided to bake a small batch of oreo cupcakes that I have been dying to try.  I cut the recipe in 1/4ths as I realized that I needed to do some test runs with the oven before I started bringing goodies to share.  So, 1/4th of the batter was mixed and out came 6 beautiful looking cupcakes.

These were so easy to make and the idea that they were filled with oreos made the entire process fun.  Despite the fact that my oven told me it was baking at 350, when in fact it was only at 315, they turned out pretty damn good.  I cannot begin to tell you how delicious these cupcakes were.  They tasted like one giant oreo cookie in cupcake form.  And, then we put them in the fridge to keep and the end result was a cross between an oreo blizzard, an oreo cookie, and a cupcake.  Something like a bliz-ookie-cake.  I think I preferred the blizookiecake... but Ron preferred leaving his cupcake out to sit and adjust to room temperature.

Whatever your preference, my craving was satisfied.

Oreo Cupcakes
Annie's Eats
Yield:  24 cupcakes
Ingredients

• For the Cupcakes:
•  24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
• I used mini's.
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 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, at room temperature
  • 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 2 tbsp. heavy cream
• For garnish:
  
  
  • Oreo cookie crumbs
  • 24 Oreo cookie halves

 Instructions

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.  (I used 2x mini's.)
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside. 
3. 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.  
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.  Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.