Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Oreo Cupcakes//Oreo Swiss Meringue Buttercream

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These Cookies & Cream Cupcakes are absolutely dreamy, both in texture and in flavour. They've become my go-to when I want something delicious, but not too labor-intensive to make, and that will delight all palates. They make me smile because they remind me of an Oreo blizzard...so nostalgic.

The base is my classic vanilla batter — the same one I use for most of my cakes — and it took me nearly two years to perfect. I adjusted ratios, tested different methods, and fine-tuned every detail until it became exactly what I wanted: incredibly moist, soft but structured, rich in flavor without being heavy, and beautifully tender from edge to center. It’s a vanilla cake that truly stands on its own — which is exactly why it works so well here.

Folded with chopped Oreos, the batter bakes up fluffy and delicate, with little pockets of chocolatey cookie throughout. You get that nostalgic cookies-and-cream flavor, but with the depth and texture of a really well-developed vanilla cake behind it.

And then there’s the Swiss meringue buttercream.

Silky, smooth, and far less sweet than traditional buttercream, it lets the Oreo flavor shine instead of overwhelming it. Once whipped with plenty of cookie pieces, it becomes creamy with just enough texture. I pile it on generously and finish each cupcake with big Oreo chunks on top — because that bakery-style finish never disappoints.

I’ve made these the last couple of years for the Super Bowl, and they’ve become such a crowd favourite. I’ll include a photo at the end of the recipe to show how I decorate them for game day. They’re nostalgic and fun, but still feel polished enough for adults — and kids absolutely love them too.

One small note: the coconut oil in the batter simply rounds out the flavor and contributes to that soft, tender crumb. It doesn’t make the cupcakes taste like coconut.

They’re one of my favorite crowd-pleasing cupcakes — dependable, impressive, and genuinely delicious.

Let’s bake.

Recipe:

Makes 25 cupcakes

Notes

• Video link to demonstrate how to fold egg whites into cake batter, for those who haven’t done this before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfgz10xdq6k Skip to the 2 minute 45 second mark.

• Make sure that the bowl used for the egg whites, as well as the beaters, are perfectly clean. Even trace amounts of a fat can hinder the whites from whipping into stiff peaks.

• I specify the type of salt used, as different salts are more or less salty than others. If you don’t have the same kind of salt used, be mindful of this and adjust accordingly. Generally speaking, pink Himalayan salt is less salty than most others.

• Top tip for room-temperature eggs: if ever you don’t have the time to take them out of the fridge early enough, or yet if you forget, you can place them in a bowl covered with hot water for 5 minutes, and they will become room-temperature just like that!

• Similarly, if your cream is cold from the fridge at the time that you’re ready to bake, just lightly heat it in a saucepan or microwave until room-temperature.

• I often place the melted coconut oil in the fridge to hurry up the process of it coming to room temperature.

• I’ll sometimes use 600 g of the batter to make 12 cupcakes, and will pour the remaining 685 g into 2 6-inch cake tins to make a little naked cake on the side. I’ll include a photo at the tail end of the recipe of a quick shot I took of what I do every year for the Super Bowl! I used heart shaped cake tins for fun, and added football themed toppers to the cupcakes - so cute!

• If you’re doing the half cupcakes/half naked cake idea, please note that after icing the cupcakes, and filling the cake layer, I then re-whip the remaining buttercream for another 5 minutes, to remove any Oreo chunks, to make it pipeable. Otherwise, the chunks will get caught in the piping tip. That said, if you’re not using a piping tip and are just applying the buttercream with a spatula, by all means leave it chunky! I would if I wasn’t piping it.

• Random tidbit of information here: without the addition of chopped Oreos to the batter, 50 g in each cupcake liner bakes in 20 minutes. The addition of the cookies makes it take less time to bake through (17-18 minutes).

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 110 g coconut oil (measured before melting)

• 230 g cake flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 + 1/8 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)

• 4 egg whites, room temperature

• 60 g butter, room temperature

• 330 g sugar

• 1 cup (250 g) full-fat cream, room temperature

• 1/4 cup pure vanilla extract

• 15 Oreo cookies

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and ensure that oven rack is positioned in the middle.

2. Line cupcake tins with 25 liners. If you only want to make 24, that’s fine, you’ll just have an extra 85 g of batter to pass around the kitchen on spoons!

3. Melt coconut oil in a small saucepan. Pour into a small bowl to cool completely—I recommend placing it in the fridge for speed.

4. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.

5. Place egg whites in a very clean medium bowl and set aside.

6. Place butter in a large bowl, and beat on high speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.

7. Add in sugar and cooled oil. Beat on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds.

8. Add in vanilla extract. Beat for 30 more seconds.

9. Add in dry ingredients and cream, alternating in additions—do 3 rounds of dry ingredients, and 2 rounds of cream (begin and end with dry ingredients). Each addition should be fully combined on low speed. Do not over mix.

10. Chop up the Oreo cookies - to give an idea of scale, I like to cut them twice each way, making 9 pieces out of each cookie.

11. Fold the chopped up Oreos (including any crumbs) into the batter.

12. With fresh, clean beaters, beat egg whites on high speed with an electric mixer until stiff, about 2-3 minutes. If you’re not sure if your whites are stiff enough, know that you should be able to turn the bowl completely upside-down without anything budging.

13. Gently incorporate whites into the cake batter, using a spatula, until fully combined. [For those new to baking—see notes for a link to a video showing how to do this. That is, there’s a specific technique to it to avoid bursting the air bubbles in the whites.]

14. Using kitchen scale and an ice cream scoop, pour 50 g of batter into each cupcake liner. This recipe yields 1285 g of batter, which allows you to make 25 50 g cupcakes, with a remaining 35 g to eat off a spoon! Or if your trays only allow you to make 24 cupcakes, you have 85 g of patter leftover.

15. Place the cupcake trays in the oven, and bake for 17-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly. [Note: Oven strengths can vary greatly. In a normal/fully competent oven, it baked in 17-18 minutes for me, while a weaker one can take a few minutes longer. Keep an eye on it and trust your senses!]

16. Remove cupcakes from oven, and immediately transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. They’ll be hot, so do so carefully and swiftly with a butter knife, taking care to not touch the pans.

Cookies & Cream Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients

• 6 egg whites

• 325 g sugar

• 360 g unsalted butter, room temperature

• 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract

• 1/8 tsp salt (pink Himalayan)

• 20 Oreo cookies (240 g)

Instructions

1. Place the egg whites and sugar in a clean and heat-proof bowl, set over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure that the water level is low enough that it doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.

2. Whisk continually until the sugar has dissolved (using clean hands, pinch the mixture and rub your fingers together—if it’s not granular, it’s done).

3. Whisk continually until the sugar has dissolved (using clean hands, pinch the mixture and rub your fingers together—if it’s not granular, it’s done).

4. Remove the bowl from the heat, and beat it on high with electric beaters until you have a solid meringue, and the bowl is cool to the touch. This could take up to 10 minutes. (This is when I smile to myself that a friend of mine recently gifted me a KitchenAid stand mixer, and I can leave it to do the work while I go clean the kitchen!)

5. At this point, start adding in your butter, about a tablespoon at a time. Fully incorporate each one before adding in the next. The texture is going to change (for the worse). Don’t stress, it’ll come together in the end. This is one of those it gets worse before it gets better things. It’s ready when it becomes super thick and solid—you’ll notice a marked change when it finally comes together.

6. Beat in the vanilla and salt.

7. Chop up the Oreo cookies - to give an idea of scale, I like to cut them thrice each way, making about 16 pieces out of each cookie.

8. Add the chopped up Oreos to the buttercream. Whip on high speed for 2 minutes. This should leave some Oreo chunks.

Assembly

Extra Ingredients

• ~20 Oreo cookies

Instructions

1. Using an ice cream scoop, top your cupcakes with buttercream.

2. Break up some Oreos, and top each cupcake with a few good pieces.

3. Enjoy at room temperature. (If you're making them the day before, store the cupcakes covered in the fridge, but make sure you take them out at least 3 hours before eating them. The buttercream and cupcakes harden when chilled, and it’s very important that they be room temperature when consumed so that they're soft and fluffy.)

   
   

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