Red Velvet Oreo Chunk Cupcakes with Cookies and Cream Frosting

Red Velvet Oreo Chunk Cupcakes with Cookies and Cream Frosting

With Valentine’s Day approaching I thought it would be fun to combine my recent craving for Oreos with my other love, red velvet cupcakes! The warm and velvety cake and the crunch from the Oreo’s make an irresistible combination! So ignore your New Year’s Resolution for one day and indulge.. you can always leave angry comments later about how I’m destroying your will power with my cupcake recipes ; )

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Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 egg

2 ½ Tbs unsweetened cocoa

2 ½ Tbs red food coloring

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk*

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp distilled white vinegar

12 Oreos

*For the buttermilk you’ll want to use ½ liquid buttermilk OR 2 Tbs of powdered buttermilk blend and a ½ cup of water.

For frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 Oreos, finely crushed

12 more whole Oreos for decorating (optional)

I only needed to buy 1 package of Oreos to do the cupcakes, frosting, and decorating, but I would buy an extra in case any get broken..orrrr if you’re like me and can’t resist snacking while baking! : )

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Twist the Oreos in half and place the frosting side up in the cupcake liners. It’s okay if you can’t get the ‘perfect twist off’ just use the half that has more of the frosting. My Oreo twisting skills were a bit rusty so not all of mine were perfect either! Place the remaining ‘lids’ in a zip-lock bag, crush them up, and set aside.

(1.) In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter until fluffy, (2.) then beat in the egg. (3.) In a separate bowl, mix together cocoa, food coloring, and vanilla extract until it’s a smooth paste. (4.) Add to the batter and mix well.

Slowly add in buttermilk and flour and mix for another 1-2 minutes

Add baking soda, salt, and vinegar and mix until all dry ingredients are combined and batter is smooth. Fold in crushed Oreos.

Distribute batter evenly into cupcake liners and place them in the oven.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let pan cool for 5 minutes. Pop the cupcakes out and let them finish cooling for 10 minutes on a cooling rack.

While waiting for the cupcakes to cool you can whip up your frosting. In a medium sized bowl, whip together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract until blended. Stir in crushed Oreos.

You can use a pastry bag to do the frosting, but you better make sure those Oreos are crushed up REALLY good or else this will happen…

A big chunk got stuck, I squeezed the bag too hard, and it split the seam! : ( I ended up using the back of a spoon to spread the frosting on. It may not look the greatest, but remain confident that you could take a bite out of one of these and people would STILL eat them! They’re that good! haha

Frost cupcakes, garnish with an additional Oreo on top and enjoy!