Vanilla Oreo Cupcakes (With Oreo Frosting)

4.87 from 15 votes

Vanilla Oreo Cupcakes (With Oreo Frosting)

If you can’t decide on treating yourself to a cupcake or a cookie, then I say don’t! Make these vanilla Oreo cupcakes with cookies and cream frosting and have the best of both worlds.

Prep Time45

Cook Time18

Total Time1 3

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 518kcal

Author: Heather Perine

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

1 ¼ cups (150 g) cake flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick, 85 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg room temperature
1 large egg white at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
3/4 cup crushed Oreo cookies about 7-8 cookies

For the frosting:

1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks, 283 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
2 ½ cups (283 g) confectioners sugar
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ cup crushed Oreo cookies (about 5-6 cookies)

Instructions

Prep oven and pans. Position rack to center of oven and preheat oven to 350oF. Place cupcake liners into muffin pans and set aside.
Combine dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cream butter and sugar. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add eggs and vanilla. Add in the egg and egg white, and beat to combine. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add in the vanilla and mix to combine.
Alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat to combine. (I add 1/3 of the flour, then 1/2 of the buttermilk, then 1/3 of the flour, then rest of buttermilk, and then finish with the remaining flour.) Stop mixing once the flour has been incorporated. Do not overmix. Stir in crushed cookies with a spatula. Do not mix too much here or your batter will turn gray.
Bake cupcakes. Fill cupcake liners to ⅔ full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top of a cupcake springs back to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Make the frosting. In a bowl of your stand mixer, with paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes to soften. Add the confectioners sugar ½ cup at a time, with mixer on low, and beat to combine. Scraping down the bowl as needed.
Add the heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat to combine on low speed, then increase the speed to medium-high speed and beat for 7-8 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add the cookies. Fold in the crushed cookies with a spatula until evenly distributed. Frost cooled cupcakes, or refrigerate covered until ready to use.

Notes

Freezing: Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen for up to 3 months. I let them thaw, uncovered, at room temperature and then frost as normal.
Make ahead/Storage: You can make the frosting up to a week ahead of time and keep in the fridge. And the cupcakes can be made the day before, then simply frost the day of and enjoy! You can keep these at room temperature for 2 days or for about 4 days in the fridge. But let them come to room temperature before serving as the frosting will harden and be like eating an stick of Oreo butter!
Cake Flour - I love using cake flour for cupcakes because it really does create a tender, fluffy texture. If you don't have any cake flour, AP flour will work but it won't yield quite the same texture. Or you can try making a Homemade Cake Flour.
Buttermilk - This creates a wonderfully moist cupcake and can't quite be duplicated with regular milk but you can use it, or try using sour cream instead. You can try and make a homemade buttermilk version, but it won't quite be the same.
Oreos - I prefer to use organic Oreo cookies, (like Newman's O's or the Whole Foods variety) that are more natural and have less chemicals and preservatives! You can also use any variety of Oreos that you like.
Don't crush your cookies too fine for the cupcakes. This could result in turning your batter gray. So the cookies just need to be broken into small pieces, but not total crumbs.
Use Oreo crumbs for the frosting. But you do want them smaller for the frosting or they will clog up your piping tip!
Don't overmix. This will not only result in a tough, chewy cupcakes but also a very GRAY ONE because of the Oreo cookies.
Save a few crumbs. You want to reserve a few cookies to crush up and decorate on top of the cupcakes when done
Cupcakes Sinking: This could be because you overfilled your cupcakes or took them out too early. Make sure to to fill about 2/3 full (no more than 3/4 full) and then test with a toothpick in the center before removing the cupcakes from the oven.

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