Oreo fans, this recipe is for you! These are chocolate cookies and cream cupcakes with Oreos on the bottom.

Hi, how Oreo doing?

Yep, and there’s a bad food fun to start off this blog post. 😉

Anyways, I have a hot take: Double Stuf Oreos are overrated and the classic Oreos have the best cookie to cream ratio. I’ve been told I’m crazy for holding this opinion, which to be fair I probably am crazy (but I stand by my beliefs on Oreos). Also, does anyone remember Cookies & Cream flavored Oreos? Aka Oreo flavored Oreos. Probably the most meta product they’ve come out with. But also…how would it taste different from a regular Oreo if it’s just flavored with….Oreos?

Musings and hot takes aside, I’m here today to share the recipe for these Cookies & Cream Cupcakes! They are moist chocolate cupcakes with an Oreo cookie on the bottom, and then frosted with a cookies & cream frosting. Top it off with more Oreo crumbles to add a little bit of crunch and texture. Could you imagine biting into a velvety chocolate cupcake and finding a hidden Oreo inside? It would certainly make my day a little happier!

Equipment & Ingredients Needed

First off, in terms of equipment, you will need 1-2 cupcake pans. This recipe makes around 16 cupcakes. If you only have one 12-cup pan, then either 1) make really really really big cupcakes or 2) bake any remaining batter in a separate, tiny cake pan, or make two batches!

Ingredients for Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

The cupcakes start with a classic chocolate cupcake base, but are stuffed with whole Oreos.

• Unsweetened, dutched cocoa powder
• Boiling water: used to bloom the cocoa powder
• A neutral oil, such as Vegetable Oil or Avocado Oil
• Granulated cane sugar
• Light brown sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• Vanilla extract
• Buttermilk, also at room temperature
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Fine sea salt
• Oreo cookies!

Ingredients for Cookies & Cream Frosting

• Unsalted butter, softened
• Powdered sugar
• Heavy whipping cream
• Vanilla extract
• Fine sea salt
• Finely crushed Oreo cookies

Tips for Making The Cupcakes

Here are three of my go-to pieces of advice for making chocolate cupcakes the best cupcakes they can be.

1. Use room temperature ingredients: use room temperature eggs and buttermilk. To warm up the eggs, place them into a bowl of hot water (but not boiling) for 5-10 minutes. To warm up the buttermilk, heat it in the microwave for around 10 seconds. Why do we do this? Because warm ingredients incorporate better and give your cupcakes a better crumb. You can read more about it in this article from Epicurious!
2. Don’t over-mix the batter: whisk in the flour until it is just combined. Over-mixing will result in tough, gummy cupcakes due to too much gluten build up.
3. Bloom the cocoa powder: the first step (after preheating the oven, of course) in this recipe is to whisk cocoa powder and boiling water together. The act of combining cocoa powder with hot liquid or fat is called ‘blooming’ it. What this does is dissolve the powder to release all the flavors within it, which results in a richer, more intense chocolate flavor.

Blooming cocoa powder is a step I rarely miss when making chocolate desserts. You’ll find me doing it in these chocolate salted caramel cupcakes, for these amazing homemade brownies, and there is even a large splash of hot water in this red velvet cake!

How to Make The Cookies & Cream Frosting

This frosting is super light, fluffy, and is flavored with crushed Oreo bits. There are a few key tricks though to making sure you get the best results! Here’a step by step breakdown:

1. Beat the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Start out on low speed to combine the sugar into the butter. If you start out too fast, chances are that powdered sugar will go flying everywhere. I speak from experience. It sucks to clean up.
2. Gradually increase the speed and begin adding the heavy whipping cream, one tablespoon at a time. Heavy whipping cream needs to be cold in order to whip up properly, and it helps add a lightness to this frosting. However, if you add it all at once, the cold may cause your butter to curdle. The best way that I’ve found to avoid this is to add it gradually, making sure to beat it in fully between each addition!
3. Beat the frosting for around 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
4. Now, add in the crushed Oreos. It’s important that they are finely crushed, especially if you’re going to be using a piping bag and tip to frost the cupcakes. If the chunks are too big, they could clog up your piping tip (also speaking from experience here lol, I made the mistake so that you don’t have to).
5. Beat the Oreos with the frosting for around another minute. Then your cookies & cream frosting is done!

How to Store Cupcakes

Store these cupcakes in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days. You can also tightly wrap and freeze unfrosted cupcakes for up to 90 days. Just let them thaw and frost them when you’re ready to eat!

Did You Make This Recipe?

If so, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment, rating, or take a picture and share it with me on Instagram @toppedwithhoney. Looking forward to seeing your decadent cupcakes!

If you’re not ready to bake yet, no problem! Simply hover over any image in this post (pick your favorite), or tap if you’re on mobile, and click the pin icon in the corner to save for later.

Have fun cooking and check out some other cupcake recipes here!

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