Triple Oreo Madness Cupcakes

Who doesn't love Oreos? The best of both worlds - vanilla and chocolate all in one cookie. Whether you eat it straight up, or split it apart and eat it in pieces, it's America's cookie.

They keep churning our imitations and fancy new variations (cookie dough was a travesty), but you cannot mess with the classic Oreo. I'll even take a Double Stuff once in a while.

So I've turned it into the ultimate decadence - a cupcake with more Oreo than you may be able to stand.


Yields 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
24 Each cookies, oreos halved w/ cream filling attached (reserve other cookie)
2 1/4 Cups flour, all-purpose 
1 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp salt, table 
8 Tbls Crisco, butter-flavored sticks 
1 2/3 Cup sugar, white 
3 Large egg white at room temperature
2 tsp extract, vanilla 
1 Cup milk, skim 
20 Each cookies, oreos quartered
24 Each cookies, oreo minis

Tools Needed: 
OXO Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop
Farberware 52106 Nonstick Bakeware 12-Cup Muffin Pan
Wilton Disposable 16-Inch Decorating Bags, 12 Pack
Oasis Supply No.1A Round Decorating Tip, Large

Directions: 
Preheat the oven to 350. 

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. 

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

While baking, pulverize the reserved cookies in a food processor until a fine powder.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs* and garnish with Mini Oreos.

Cookies & Cream Frosting: (optional) 
8 Ounce(wt)s cheese, cream regular at room temperature 
6 Tbls butter, unsalted at room temperature 
1 Tbls extract, vanilla
4 Cups sifted sugar, powdered
2 Tbls cream, heavy

Directions:
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 to 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.

*If you like, fold in the cookie crumbs (instead of sprinkling on top of the cupcakes) to make a true cookies and cream frosting.