These Oreo cupcakes are the perfect recipe for anyone who loves cookies and cream! Tender, fluffy white cupcakes filled with cookie pieces and topped with the fluffiest, creamiest Oreo frosting. These rival anything from a fancy bakery – but are surprisingly simple to make.
As much as I love Oreo cookies, I love Oreo desserts even more – whether it’s a creamy Oreo cheesecake, fudgy Oreo brownies, or Oreo chocolate chip cookies. But these Oreo cupcakes just might be my new favorite Oreo recipe.
The recipe starts with fluffy, moist white cupcakes. Then we add chopped Oreo cookies into the batter to give you bites of cookies throughout your cupcake. They’re topped with the creamiest Oreo buttercream frosting. The frosting actually tastes like Oreos because we’re using both the wafers and the cream filling in the frosting recipe.
Seriously delicious.
How to Make Oreo Cupcakes
As mentioned – this recipe is incredibly simple to make. The cupcakes are made without the use of an electric mixer and everything is simply whisked together by hand. Here’s the rundown – with photos – so you can see exactly what each step looks like.
- Start by preheating the oven to 350F (180C) and lining your cupcake pan with cupcake papers (papers are required here – otherwise the cupcakes will stick to the pan). Note that this recipe makes about 16 cupcakes in total – so you will need 2 pans.
- In a medium sized bowl whisk together the wet ingredients: melted butter, egg whites, sour cream, milk and vanilla extract. Make sure that the butter is melted and cooled slightly and that the egg whites, sour cream and milk are all at room temperature before getting started. This ensures easier mixing. If the mixture curdles a little – that’s OK.
- Note: This recipe is a white cake recipe, meaning that it uses just the egg whites. Egg yolks add a richness in flavor and golden yellow color to any vanilla cake recipe. We’re using just the egg whites in this recipe so that the cupcakes have a lighter color and so that the richness of the egg yolks doesn’t compete with the Oreo flavor.
- Then in a separate large bowl you’ll whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. For this recipe, I highly recommend sifting the flour first to remove any lumps. Because we’re only whisking with a wire whisk, as opposed to an electric mixer, it’s important to get rid of any lumps now.
- Make a well shape in the middle of the dry ingredients, then pour the wet ingredients into the well. You’ll then carefully mix everything together until the batter is smooth. I typically do a few stirs with a rubber spatula first, then whisk with a wire whisk until there are no more lumps. Just be sure to stop mixing as soon as all the lumps are removed.
- Carefully fold in the chopped Oreo cookies. You want your Oreos to be chopped pretty finely – I cut each Oreo into about 6-9 pieces. If you only cut your Oreos in half, they can sink to the bottom and/or cause the cupcakes to rise in a funny shape. Note: I typically do not add in the crumbs after chopping the Oreo cookies – that’s simply because I didn’t want the cupcakes to look “muddy” with Oreo crumbs. This was purely an aesthetic choice.
- Then spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans. You want to fill each cupcake liner about ⅔ to ¾ full – but no more. Do not try to fit all of the batter into just 12 cupcake liners. If you do – they will end up too full and can overflow as they bake. You should end up with about 16 cupcakes in total.
- Bake 1 cupcake pan in the middle of the preheated oven for about 17-20 minutes, or until the tops look set and an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist cupcake crumbs but no gooey cupcake batter. The tops should feel slightly firm to the touch when you press on them.
For the Creamy Oreo Frosting
The Oreo frosting just might be my favorite part of this recipe. It’s incredibly creamy and fluffy. The recipe uses both Oreo wafers and the filling. By using the filling as well it makes the frosting actually taste like Oreo cookies – instead of vanilla frosting with Oreo wafer crumbs in it.
You’ll beat together the butter and powdered sugar, then mix in the crushed Oreos – adding in a little cream as needed.
Pro Tip: You can either crush the Oreo cookies in a food processor or by placing the cookies in a freezer bag and crushing them with a rolling pin. However, if you plan to frost the cupcakes with a star tip (such as a 1M tip) – you will need to pulse the cookies in a food processor until they’re very fine crumbs. Otherwise, larger cookie crumbs will get stuck in your piping tip. The frosting is delicious either way.
These easy Oreo cupcakes are perfect for anyone who loves cookies and cream – or if you’re looking for a special cupcake flavor. The moist and fluffy white cupcakes, tons of Oreo pieces, and creamy Oreo frosting make these impossible to resist. So pour yourself a glass of milk – because these cookie cupcakes are waiting!
And if you need more Oreo inspiration, then be sure to try:
Oreo Cupcakes
Equipment
- 12-cavity muffin pan
Ingredients
Oreo Cupcakes
- ¾ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 3 large egg whites discard the yolks or save them for another recipe
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream room temperature
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 cup granulated sugar caster or berry sugar is best, if possible
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 Oreo cookies finely chopped
Oreo Frosting
- 8 Oreo cookies
- 1 ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1-3 tablespoons whipping cream or heavy cream
Instructions
Oreo Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line a 12-cavity muffin pan with muffin papers. You will get about 16 cupcakes in total, so you will need to line 1 full pan and add 4 papers to the middle of a second pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg whites, milk, sour cream and vanilla extract. Keep whisking until you no longer see pieces of egg. If the mixture curdles a little, that's ok.
- In a separate large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt until no lumps remain.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Whisk together (by hand) until you no longer see lumps of flour. I typically do a few stirs with a rubber spatula first, then whisk until smooth.
- Carefully fold in the chopped Oreo cookies - you can choose to use just the pieces or use the pieces and the crumbs.
- Spoon the batter into the lined muffin tins - filling each cupcake liner about ⅔ to ¾ full. They will each use about 3 tablespoons of batter. Do not try to fit all of the batter into 12 cupcake liners.
- Bake 1 muffin tray at a time in the middle of the preheated oven. The cupcakes will bake for about 17-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few cupcake crumbs and the tops feel slightly firm and springy to the touch.
- Cool the cupcakes in the pan for at least 10 minutes, before carefully transferring to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Oreo Frosting
- Crush the Oreo cookies - wafers and filling - until they're fine crumbs. If you plan to frost your cupcakes with a star piping tip, be sure to use a food processor and make sure that there are no pieces or large crumbs that will get stuck in the piping tip. If you plan to frost with a knife or large round piping tip, feel free to crush the cookies by placing them in a bag and crushing with a rolling pin.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth.
- Add in 2 cups powdered sugar (sift the powdered sugar first to remove any lumps) and the salt. Beat together, starting with the mixer on a low speed.
- Add in the crushed Oreo cookies and beat into the butter mixture.
- Mix in the rest of the powdered sugar about ½ cup at a time until the desired sweetness and thickness is reached. If needed, beat in a little cream - about 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Frost the fully cooled cupcakes - either using a piping bag and tip or a knife. I used a 1M star tip to swirl the frosting on top of each cupcake. Optionally, add an Oreo cookie on top of each cupcake (I used minis).
Notes
- Frosting: This recipe will make enough to frost each cupcake with a generous amount of frosting. If you plan to frost each cupcake with a knife and use a thinner layer of frosting, then you can divide the recipe in half. You'll need:
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ½ - 2 cups powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 4-5 Oreo cookies
- 1 tablespoon cream
- Storage: Fresh cupcakes are always best. Store cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 8 hours, or in the fridge for up to 4 days. Let the cupcakes sit on the counter and come to room temperature before enjoying. Unfrosted cupcakes can be placed in an airtight container and stored at room temperature overnight.
- Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only and based on 1 cupcake with frosting, assuming that all the frosting is used and the recipe yields 16 uniform cupcakes
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