Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

My favorite Blizzard at Dairy Queen is Cookies and Cream. It doesn't matter what the new flavors are, I always seem to order the Cookies and Cream. If Oreo cookies are that good when mixed with ice cream, they've got to taste great in a cupcake ... right? It turns out ... the answer is yes!

I first made these a couple of months ago. I was sitting in class on a Saturday afternoon (I take weekend classes ... 8-5 Saturday and 8-1:30 Sunday), when my professor says, "We need snacks. Julia and Mike, you're in charge of bringing snacks tomorrow." So of course Mike looks at me and says, "What kind of cupcakes are you going to bring." I went home that night and came up with these little babies.

Now, I love sweets. But ... the first one I ate made my head spin like I'd never had sugar before. These were so rich and dense that I couldn't eat more than one.

I took a dozen of them to class the next day (I don't remember what Mike brought). My professor liked them a lot. I think I became her favorite that day. She brought me magazines with cupcake recipes the next weekend we had class. Others in the program told me that she was still talking about the cupcakes at a seminar they had to attend with her. I got an "A".

So ... last week my friend Melanie asked me to make some Cookies and Cream cupcakes for a party that she was having for her mother's birthday. Because she actually asked me to make 6 different kinds of cupcakes, she only needed 8 of these. My boys were not upset that my recipe made 24.

Here's how you make them ...

Start by opening 12 Oreos ... making sure that each cookie part has some cream filling on it ... and put one in the bottom of each baking cup. Then crush about 12 more Oreos and save for later. I went ahead at this point and cut 6 Oreos into 4ths for garnishing later. I won't lie, crushing and cutting Oreos makes a huge mess. I even crushed them in a Ziploc baggie.

Next, it's time to make the cupcakes. I like this recipe because it starts with a white cake mix. I like when I can doctor a box.

Mix a white cake mix, a cup of sour cream, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 3 large eggs, and a teaspoon of vanilla for about  2 minutes. Then fold in about 1 1/2 cups of crushed Oreos. The batter will be really thick. I use an ice cream scoop to fill each of the baking cups about 3/4 full. Then put them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 19 minutes. Cool on a wire wrack.

To decorate, I just made my favorite vanilla buttercream recipe and piped a swirl on top. I then sprinkled some crumbs over the top and stuck one of the Oreo pieces I cut earlier in the top. I found that a half Oreo was too big, so that's why I cut fourths. I wonder how a Mini Oreo would look on top? I've seen others where they have mixed the crumbs right into the buttercream before piping, but I think the sprinkle gives it a cleaner look.

Here's what it looks like on the inside.

I really don't know how anyone could eat more than 1 of these ... they are just so rich ... so the 24 that this recipe makes is quite enough.

My only complaint is that the cookie on top get real soft real fast. I guess that's a reason to eat them right away.