Oreo Truffle Cupcakes

Last Ramadan we hosted our girls iftar and I made chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. Continuing with cookie cupcake inspiration, this year I shared these oreo truffle cupcakes with our friends.

I tested three recipes just to be sure I had the perfect oreo cupcake possible! My dad took the leftovers to the masjid. I'm told a guy said they were the best cupcakes he ever had. My brother said they were his favorite too.

I was trying to figure out which vanilla cake recipe was best to use as my base. I have previously made oreo cupcakes, but the cake tops didn't rise. They came out flat and crusty because I used too much baking powder. Or so I thought. I revisited that recipe, making sure I used the correct amount, but they still came out exactly the same. Now I think it has to do with the shortening. Maybe it works when you bake that recipe in a pan, but not in cupcake form.  

The winning recipe was from Sweetapolita. She even said she tried seven recipes to perfect her white cake, and I believe it. Whether you want to make plain vanilla cupcakes or add oreos to them, her recipe was the best, even after I added an extra egg yolk.

Then I made it a third time, just to see if I should go with the version with an oreo cookie baked on the bottom, or if I should bake each one with their own oreo truffle. They were both good, but an oreo truffle seemed more special, and I wanted to top each one with a cookie anyway. 

My previous oreo cupcakes were topped with a cream cheese frosting. They were really good, with a very cookies n creme flavor, but this time I wanted to try just an oreo buttercream. It has a stronger sugary flavor but I'm told it was delicious!

Oreo Truffle Cupcakes with Oreo Buttercream
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Oreo Truffles

1 regular size package of Oreo cookies

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

Directions

Dump the entire package of oreos in your food processor. Process until they are fine crumbs. Add your softened cream cheese and blend until its all mixed together. 

Roll into balls alittle larger than a tablespoon (see picture) and place on a plate lined with parchment paper. Stick them in the refrigerator while you make the cupcakes. 

Cupcakes
24 cupcake liners
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 whole eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
2-1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour, sifted
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and each tablespoon cut into quarters
12 Oreo cookies, processed in the blender to make crumbs

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).

In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the egg whites, whole eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, and the vanilla. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients together on low speed (I use the "stir" setting on my mixer) for 30 seconds.

Add the butter a few pieces at a time, about every 10 seconds, ensuring the butter is cold. Continue to mix on low until the mixture is a fine crumbly texture. Add remaining 3/4 cup of milk, and mix on low speed for 5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg mixture in 3 separate batches, mixing until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. (You want to ensure that the batter is homogenous.) Fold once or twice to ensure the batter at bottom of bowl is incorporated.

Prepare muffin pans with cupcake liners. Add an oreo truffle to each one. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners, covering the truffle and filling about 2/3 full. 

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the edge of cupcake (away from the truffle), check after about 15-20 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake so that the truffle stays moist. Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Oreo Buttercream
Yield: frosts 24 cupcakes

2 cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream2 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
10 Oreo cookies, process in blender to make crumbs
24 whole Oreo cookies to garnish, optional

Directions
Beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Add heavy cream and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add in the Oreo crumbs and salt, mixing just until combined. Pipe onto cupcakes. If you want, top each frosted cupcake with an Oreo cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake Pops

Wow, Ramadan crept up on us and it feels like its almost gone!

Remember these cupcakes? Well I made little bite size cake pop versions of them to share at Samrena's iftar. I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but I'm told they were incredible. 

I made everything from scratch but you could certainly use a boxed chocolate (or dark chocolate) cake mix to make things easier, especially since you're going to crumble it up anyway. If you just want to make the cupcake version, be sure to look at the recipe here because its slightly different (the size of cookie dough balls and other measurements).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake Pops

Adapted from Recipe Girl

Cookie dough filling

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips


Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to stir together the butter, sugars, milk and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips. Freeze for 30 minutes, or until the cookie dough is firm. Make the cake batter in the meantime. When ready, scoop out the cookie dough by the teaspoon and roll into a ball.

Chocolate Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.

Place the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Blend to combine. Add the water, oil, egg and vanilla. Blend to combine, scraping down the sides as needed a couple of times until all is well mixed. Divide the batter between the 12 cupcake liners.

Drop a ball of chocolate chip cookie dough into the center of each cupcake.

Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake portion of the cupcake (not tested through the center where the dough is), comes out clean. Cool completely.

Cookie Dough Frosting

1 1/2 sticks salted butter
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy. Mix in the flour, milk and vanilla and continue to mix until all is well combined.

Cake pops

12 oz. of chocolate bark (I used 1 package of Wilton Candy Melts in Light Cocoa flavor)
mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, to garnish 
parchment or wax paper
20-30 lollipop sticks, optional (you could just do these as cake balls instead of pops)
mini cupcake liners, optional
Disposable rubber medical/exam gloves (non-powder)

Directions
After the cupcakes are cooled completely, crumble into large bowl. Add 6 tablespoons of frosting and while wearing gloves, mix thoroughly with your hands. Mixture should still look alittle crumbly but moist enough to roll into balls. You can add more frosting if needed. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and freeze for 20-30 minutes until firm.

Melt 8 oz. of chocolate bark in microwave per directions on package. I melt the chocolate bark in three small portions at a time because it starts to cool and thicken. It’s easier to work with when it’s hot. Dip lollipop stick into chocolate and then insert into cake ball. Freeze for another 10 minutes so that the stick is firmly secure. 

Dip cake pops in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. You could use a spoon to roll the cake pop on to tap off extra chocolate. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.