Oreo Lover’s Cupcakes

Oreos are one my husband’s most very favoritest foods in the world.  Ever.  I wish I were joking when I tell you that he could undoubtedly pound an entire package in one day.

But I’m not.

Knowing that, I tend not to buy them very often (sorry, Nicklas!).  But when Nick has an exceptionally good or or an exceptionally bad day, I frequently stop by Kroger on the way home from work to pick up a package of Oreos to aid in either his celebration or commiseration, respectively.

Anyone with me on this one?

So when my friend told me about an Oreo cupcake she’d made, it immediately went to the top of my “Recipes To Try” list.  I made some recipe modifications, shared it with some friends, and voila – I’ve found my new favorite cupcake recipe.

These little cupcakes are overloaded with Oreo goodness.  The stand-out favorite features are the frosting (a cream cheese frosting with crushed Oreos mixed in for a “cookies and cream” effect), and the “surprise” at the bottom of the cupcake (an Oreo cookie).  I always giggle to see people squeal with delight, mouths full of Oreo cupcake, as they exclaim, “Ooooohhhh!!!  It has an Oreo on the bottom!!!”

If you eat these on the first day, the cookie is still fairly crisp, kind of like a crust, giving a nice texture variety to the cupcake.  If you wait until the next day, the cookie has softened until it blends into the melt-in-your-mouth texture of the chocolaety cupcake, but you still get an extra punch of Oreo flavor.  (The 2nd day ones are my favorite!)

The batter also has crushed Oreos mixed in…because why not, you know?…ensuring that Oreo Lovers the world over will get instantly addicted to these cupcakes.  I cheat and use a simple Devils Food Cake boxed cake mix, but add in 1/2 cup of sour cream to make it a bit more dense and rich – perfect for holding it’s own with the Oreo cookie “crust”.  (Oliver approves -> )

People LOVE these.  People love Oreos.  People love cupcakes.  So it only makes sense that these are one of the most crowd-pleasing desserts I’ve made.  Ever.  Like, they may soon rival my Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes.  Maybe.

I keep thinking these need some type of filling.  I mean, Oreos are KNOWN for having a creamy white filling, right?  But whenever I mention this to my tasters, they cry out frantically, “No!  Don’t change them!  They’re perfect!”  So, much like my Bacon Dark Chocolate Cupcakes, these cupcakes stand on their own.  No filling necessary.  (Proving me completely wrong of my theory that cupcakes without filling are not worthy.)

And with that, I’ll stop writing so you can run to the store and buy a couple packages of Oreos (you’re craving them now, aren’t you?).  Don’t forget the milk!

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A few notes on recipe preparation:

Yes, this recipe uses a boxed cake mix.  Add in the 1/2 cup of sour cream and some crushed Oreos, and you’ll never know it was store-bought!

 

 

 

 

 

For the Oreos that go into the cake batter (and yes, you WILL need to buy 2 regular-sized packages of Oreos for this recipe…yum…), I dump them into my Blendtec, hit pulse for a few seconds, and voila – Oreo dust.  Quick and easy.

 

However, for the Oreos that go into the frosting, I’d suggest crushing those by hand.  If you crush them too fine (as the Blendtec does so exceptionally), when you mix them into the frosting they make it look like a nasty gray mud.  Not very appetizing.  So I put them in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin.  It’s important to make sure they’re big enough bits that they won’t dissolve into gray mud, but small enough that they’ll fit through your frosting tip (if you’re piping the icing).

And if you are piping the icing, make sure to use your largest size tip (I use a Wilton 2A).  Even with that, chances are some cookie bits will get stuck in the tip.  Don’t fret.  Just stick something in there (we use a bamboo kebab skewer) to break up the chunk and keep on piping!

 

Oliver enjoying the finished product
(GOSH, I can’t get enough of that face!)