Cookies N' Cream Cupcakes

 Happy Monday, all!
For those in love with Oreos and all things Cookies N' Cream, you are welcome in advance! :) Have I got a yum yum to share with you! These are probably one of the Hubs favorite cupcakes, he's a lover of the Oreo cookie. I started making these a few years ago and our family had been a fan ever since. If you're looking for something fun to bring to a game night or a BBQ this summer, this might just be the treat. This is a buttercream filled chocolate cupcake topped with a cookies n' cream buttercream and a little teeny tiny baby Oreo. Nommm Nommm! Ok, let's go.
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First, crush about 12 Oreos in the food processor... actually I doubled that because Hubs like the crushed cookies on his ice cream. You're gonna want a nice fine crumb, almost as if you we're making a cracker crust.

 Next you'll need some chocolate cupcakes. I was short on time... and energy... so I used a Chocolate Fudge Super Moist Cake Mix by Betty Crocker and added a box of Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix to the batter. This is a little trick to make a box mix have a better texture AND not fall apart while decorating. It makes an nice moist cake. This is an especially good tip if you're using a box cake mix and planning to decorate it with frosting or fondant. It will help your cake not be a totally crumbled mess. It gives a taste and texture somewhere between box and homemade... a good place to be if your a busy lady or new to baking.

 Ok, now for the buttercream. We're going to be honest with one another for a moment. Brace yourself. Buttercream contains butter. It's just going to happen. SO, now that we're all up front and honest...

 I don't usually use a recipe when I make frosting. My mum (cake baking goddess) taught me that the best way to cook/bake most things was by trial and error, taste and intuition. But I'm going to do my best to put this into measurements for you. Put 1.5 CUP of room temp unsalted butter and 3/4 CUP shortening into the stand mixer. Whip it smooth with the whisk attachment.

 I then added about a 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 cups of powdered sugar. Start the mixer out SLOW or you'll have a kitchen COVERED with sugar! :) After the sugar is incorporated continue to add sugar and whip at medium to high speed to get a light and fluffy frosting. I usually stop in the middle of this and add some type of flavoring/extract into my buttercream. For this recipe use 2 tsp of good quality PURE vanilla extract. Also add a tiny bit of milk to the frosting as you add the sugar to keep the texture light and smooth. I used close to 3/4 of a 3 lb. bag of sugar, you may find you use less. Once your buttercream is at the desired flavor and consistancy, stop the mixer and fill a decorating bag with a 2A decorator's tip and about 1/3 of the frosting. When you're ready to go, poke the tip of your bag about 1/2 inch into each cupcake and squeeze the bag. you'll feel the cupcake fill a bit and then the top of the cupcake will puff up. Feel free to cut open a sample cupcake to check if you like the amount... and taste ;).  

Once you have filled each cupcake, squeeze whatever is left in your bag back into the mixing bowl. Add your Oreo crumbs into your buttercream a 1/2 cup at a time while mixing at medium speed. Add to taste.

Then switch out the tip on your bag to a 1M (an awesome cupcake tip!) and fill your bag with the cookies n' cream buttercream. Frost each cupcake in a swirling motion beginning from the outside of the cupcake to the center. Don't forget, practice makes perfect... you may have to make a lot of cupcakes to master this little technique (*wink wink*). As a final touch, I like to place a mini Oreo or a broken piece of Oreo cookie on each cupcake (you could also dust left over crumbs on top).

And now...eat them all up! 

... you may even have some left over frosting.

Enjoy!