High Altitude Cookies and Cream Cupcakes (Oreo Vanilla Cupcakes)

These Oreo speckled vanilla cupcakes make the most delicious high altitude cookies and cream cupcakes ever. The vanilla cupcakes are so soft, moist and fluffy, flecked with crushed Oreos, with a whole Oreo cookie at the bottom of each cupcake. The salted vanilla buttercream has more crushed Oreos, and if that’s not enough cookies for you, decorate the tops with cookies, too. If you love Oreo cookies, you’ll love these from scratch cookies and cream cupcakes.

You might also love these soft homemade Oreos, cookies and cream ice cream, and cookies and cream white chocolate bark.

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Why We Love These Cupcakes

• From scratch, high altitude tested. I based this cupcake recipe off my cookies and cream cake, and it works beautifully for both layer cakes and cupcakes.
• Easy to make. You’ll need a mixer to whip the buttercream, of course, but the cupcake batter comes together easily with just a bowl and whisk.
• Stays soft for days. Actually, I like these cupcakes even better the second day, because the cookies soften from the moisture of the cupcakes, and a soft, milk-dunked Oreo is just the way I like it.
• A whole cookie on the bottom. I mean, how many cupcakes come with a whole cookie, too?
• High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

First, you’ll need Oreos, or chocolate sandwich cookies. I’d suggest getting a large family pack, since you’ll need enough to put a whole cookie at the bottom of each cupcake, crushed cookies for the cake batter and buttercream, and more for decorating the frosted cupcakes.

For the dry ingredients, you’ll need granulated sugar, cake flour (makes the cupcakes extra light and fluffy), baking powder for leavening, and salt to balance out the sweetness.

For the liquid ingredients, a whole egg plus an egg white gives the batter structure and lightness. Buttermilk adds moisture and acidity for a soft, tender cake crumb. Melted butter and vegetable oil keeps the cupcakes really moist, soft and flavorful, while vanilla extract adds flavor.

Buttercream

For the buttercream, I always rely on my perfect American buttercream recipe. It’s always so fluffy and silky, perfectly pipeable, and not too sweet. It starts with butter, which you’ll whip with powdered sugar until super light and fluffy. A little meringue powder is my not-so-secret secret ingredient, which adds stability, and improves the texture of buttercream. Salt balances the sweetness and vanilla adds flavor. Sometimes I need a little milk, to thin the buttercream a bit when my kitchen is really cold, but on warmer days, I often don’t need any milk at all. Lastly, crushed Oreos add beautiful flecks throughout the buttercream.

Instructions

Bake the cupcakes.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line two standard muffin/cupcake pans with paper liners. Place the whole Oreos in the bottom of the liners and set aside.
• Scrape the frosting out of 3 Oreos, and use a food processor to finely crush just the cookies. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
• Separately, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, buttermilk, melted butter, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk for 10-15 seconds until well combined.
• Briefly fold in the crushed cookies, being careful not to over-mix. You should have streaks of crumbs, but if you mix them in too much, your cake batter will turn gray.
• Scoop the batter on top of the cookies in the pan, being careful not to over fill the cups. Usually, you’d use about 1/4 cup of cake batter per cup when making cupcakes, but the whole Oreos take up some of the room, so you may only need about 1/8 cup or a little more batter per cup. Fill them no more than 2/3-3/4 full.
• Bake on the center oven rack for about 17-20 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched.
• Cool the cupcakes in the pan for several minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Make the buttercream.

• In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
• With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt and mix until combined.
• Add the vanilla and beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the milk only if needed for desired consistency.
• Gently fold in the crushed Oreos, taking care not to over-mix, or the frosting will turn gray.
• Spread or pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes, and decorate with whole or crushed Oreos.

TIP: When folding the chopped/crushed cookies into your cake batter and buttercream, be sure to fold gently and don’t over mix, or you’ll turn the mixture gray.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many cupcakes does this make?

If you fill the cups about 2/3-3/4 full, then you should get about 18-24 cupcakes.

Will this recipe work as a layer cake?

It sure does! You can see my cookies and cream cake recipe here.

Will this recipe work with gluten free flour?

You can easily make a gluten free version of these cookies and cream cupcakes by using measure-for-measure gluten free flour and gluten free Oreos.

How far in advance can I make the cupcakes?

Stored in an airtight container, the cupcakes will stay moist for several days, although the Oreos do soften. If making them in advance for an event, I’d suggest freezing the cupcakes in an airtight container until the day you’ll be serving them.

Should I use the Oreos with or without the filling?

This is really up to you. The filling is so sweet, that I decided not to use it, and I finely ground just the cookie part to add a speckled look to my cake and frosting. But you can certainly chop up the whole cookies into large chunks and add those to your cake batter. Make sure the crushed cookies in the buttercream are very fine, or they will clog the piping tip.

What piping tip did you use to pipe the buttercream?

Tip 6B.

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