Weekend Baking: Oreo Cupcakes with Cookies & Cream Frosting

A few weeks ago I saw a recipe online for Oreo brownies.  The recipe looked simple enough, you lined the bottom of the brownie pan with Oreos, poured the brownie batter over the top of the Oreos, and then baked as required by the batter.  I thought, “That can’t be right, surely the Oreos would burn.”  I decided to give it a try making cupcakes.  I figured they were either going to be delicious or I was going to burn them.  Worth a shot, right?  If they turned out delicious, I thought this was the perfect time to try making my own buttercream frosting.

You will need:

1 box cake mix (any kind that you like, I used Chocolate Devils Food because that is my husband’s favorite) & ingredients required by that mix

Oreos

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 Tablespoons 2% milk

Step 1 – Preheat oven to temperature indicated on cake box mix.  Line muffin pan and drop an Oreo cookie in the bottom of each liner.Step 2 – Make cake mix as directed on box.  Fill muffin cups with batter, 3/4 full.Step 3 – Bake for 18 minutes.  Test with toothpick before removing from the oven.Step 4 – Time to make the frosting!  Place the butter in the bottom of a large bowl.  Using a mixer on medium speed, beat until soft and fluffy.  Add in sugar, vanilla, and milk, and beat until smooth.Step 5 – Place 3 Oreos in a plastic bag and crush until they are in small pieces.  Frost the cupcakes and garnish with Oreo pieces.So that was my idea, but as I was making these cupcakes I thought, “why not add cookie crumbs to the frosting itself?”  At this point I was winging it…  If you want to make cookies and cream icing, skip step 5 and do this instead.

Step 5 Alternative – Place 5-6 cookies in a food processor.  Grind until fine:Step 6 – Slowly add ground up Oreos to the buttercream icing.  Blend using the mixer on low-medium speed.  Voila!  Cookies & Cream Buttercream Frosting.  Yum!How did I not know how simple it is to make your own buttercream frosting?  Sure it’s easy to pick up a container of frosting at the store, but making your own frosting takes about 5 minutes and is delicious.  Love it!

And, just in case you were wondering – the Oreo didn’t burn at all.  I couldn’t believe it.  It tasted the same as a normal Oreo but more delicious because it was part of a cupcake.