Cookies n' Cream Cupcakes!

So, I figured that since all my midterms are finished with, I'd celebrate by baking myself some cupcakes. Yes, you know the kind. THE cupcakes.:) I suppose I should tell you the story of how these cupcakes came about.

I normally never eat oreos by themselves. Don't ask me why, I just don't. Even though I don't eat them plain, I love them in my ice cream, brownies, and any other dessert you can put them in. During the start of senior year, I had a container of them lying around my house for some reason and well, one thing led to the next and I found myself crushing them with a rolling pin (I always have way too much fun with that part) and throwing them into my chocolate cake batter.

I need to find a better place to take pictures. :[

Chocolate Cupcake Recipe-- I got this recipe from joyofbaking.com (Thanks Stephanie!)
Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup warm water
8-10 oreos

*I found that using cake flour really keeps the cupcakes from being too dense, but if you only have all purpose flour, by all means use it. Just remember not to over mix it! Over mixing the flour makes for a really tough and dense cake, I suppose I'll have to explain the reasoning for it sometime soon.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add the melted butter, warm water, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
4. Crush oreo cookies and put them in the batter. Stir to incorporate.
5. Fill cupcake containers 2/3's of the way and cook for 20 minutes. *I check to see if they're done at 15 minutes and recheck every few minutes to make sure they don't over cook.
6. Cool and frost!

I can't stand store bought frosting because it's way too sweet for me so I have a standard vanilla recipe and play around with it when I need to. For this recipe specifically, I add more oreo cookies into the frosting, because why not? I already put them in the actual cake, there's no harm in slipping a few into the frosting. :P

Cookies N' Cream Frosting
1 stick butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. whole milk
3 c. confectioner's sugar
~6 oreos

1. Beat butter and vanilla together until combined.
2. Combine confectioner's sugar and mix.
3. Pour in milk and combine. *Remember, less is more here. I always add in a little bit of milk at a time because confectioner's sugar is really finicky. I'll add in a little bit of milk, mix, and then see if it needs any more. The consistency of the frosting should be creamy enough to spread, but stiff enough so it doesn't run off the cupcakes. This recipe makes a ton of frosting, so you can halve it orrrrrrrr, you can just make more cupcakes. :]

Annie was really really happy in anthropology, hahaha.

So there you have it! This is how I make those oreo cupcakes. If you ever feel the need to bake something, go ahead and give these a try, they're not very hard to make at all. It's either that or you have to wait for me to make them for you. :P