A Trio of Oreo Cupcakes

A few nights ago I found myself laying awake at night.  I was busy planning the menu of my imaginary bakery (that I'll purchase when I win the lottery) and contemplating possible recipes to liven up my cupcakes.

That's when it hit me.  I was so excited I had to wake up my husband to tell him all about it.  He was happy- I promise...

Anyway- what's the most delicious, chocolatey (yet mildly shameful) mid-western holiday treat?  Oreo balls! There's nothing glamorous about them- they are a no-bake recipe consisting of three ingredients (Oreos, cream cheese, and almond bark) that sit proudly next to my dark chocolate dipped Irish short bread, sea salt dusted caramels, and other pretentious holiday desserts.  But these are not pretentious- they are anything but. 

There I had it!  Oreo ball stuffed cupcakes.  Can you even imagine anything more sinful?  Well, I'm sure we all probably could- but these have been occupying my every thought for the past two days and they just had to become reality.  And here is my journey (and my first attempt at capturing my baking on film as I go!)  Scroll down for recipes.

First, I used my favorite cupcake recipe to mix up a batch of devils food chocolate cupcakes:

Oof!  They are just screaming for all that Oreo goodness, aren't they?  And would be more perfect for these little cookies and cream themed cakelettes than black and white damask liners?  Nothing, I tell you!  Nothing.

Next, I broke out my trusty cupcake plunger to core these suckers.  Because we all have one of those, right? I got mine as gift from my husband.  How thoughtful, right!  If not, an apple corer works great- or even some fancy (and safe!) knife work will do.

This was my first time using a cupcake corer.  I ended up digging the cores our of the cupcakes on almost every one.  I need practice.  But with the apple corer, I had to dig the cores out of the apple corer.  Sigh.  But they turned out just fine!

See!  How cute.  Next, I whipped up the first Oreo filling- the inside of Oreo balls!  Two ingredients- crushed Oreos and cream cheese.  How can that be bad? 

I was so seriously tempted to just break out a spoon and go to town.  Regretfully, I was preparing these before cheat day (to be ready for cheat day!) so I had to hold myself back. 

Then, after chilling the dough for about a minute until I got antsy, I rolled it into balls and filled some of the cupcakes, like so...

And I also tried going one step further- putting a coated Oreo ball inside the cupcake!  First, I rolled the balls and stuck a stick in each to make dipping easier.  A toothpick would work fine too!  Otherwise you can dip the ball in almond bark and transport it over using a spoon.  You have so many options...

Throw these guys in the freezer to make dipping easier.  When I make Oreo balls usually, I always advise to only freeze them slightly, otherwise when the filing expands when thawing, it can crack the shell.  Since we don't care if we have cracked shells inside of our cupcakes, it doesn't matter how long they stay in the freezer.

Next, I melted some almond bark in the microwave, dipped one at a time and immediately put the whole Oreo ball in the cupcake!  So fun!

Pull out the sticks (easier when they defrost a bit) and these are ready to be set aside.  And don't forget to dip your extras, place them on parchment paper, and enjoy some classic Oreo balls later! 




Alright- it's Oreo cream filling time!  Michelle suggested this when I giddily told her about my idea.  I did a little googling and here is what I came up with- this recipe was so simple, yet so delicious. 

I started out with the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk.  I almost entered into a sugar coma just looking at this stuff.  Next, I folded in some cool whip.  Finally, I crushed the Oreos in a baggie- and I was so worried about the pieces being too big to go inside a cupcake.  But silly me, I didnt realize how soft the Oreos would get, so the big pieces turned out great! I mixed this in, and the final filling was complete!

Spoon some into your cupcakes and they are ready to go!

Now, it's time to frost, baby!  I agonized over what frosting to make, but I settled on adding Oreo crumbs to my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe, found here.

I made a double batch of frosting and used 1/2 of a package of Oreos, crushed.  I had a little frosting left over after frosting 24 cupcakes.  But this women knows how to take care of leftover frosting, so this really was a non-issue.

This was promptly delivered to my husband on the couch.  I'm totally the best wife ever.  So delicious. 

It's frosting time!  Fill up your piping bag (or use a knife, we don't have to be fancy here!) and go to town. Add some garish if you like, and you'll end up with something like this!

A little almond bark drizzle on the top to match the filling!

Or some simple crushed Oreos (Which I topped the Oreo cream cupcakes with!)

And a little chuck of cookie for the plain Oreo ball filling guys.  At the grocery store, I saw some other cute garnish ideas- like the 100 calorie packs of Oreos or the Oreo minis.  If you have any of these on hand, that would be so stinkin adorable.

These all were so good and so different!  The Oreo ball filling was so dense and rich; I loved it!  The dipped Oreo ball ones were great- very texturally interesting.  And the Oreo fluff was addicting.  Love it. 

Maybe next time I'll try this in cake form instead of cupcakes- the cake itself was so light, it didn't quite stand up to such dense fillings. But regardless, these were definately cheat day worthy.  And the recipes are....

Step One: The Chocolate Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/too-much-chocolate-cake/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix

1 (5.9 ounce) package instant devils food (or chocolate of any kind) pudding mix

1 (8 oz) container of Daisy sour cream (full fat)

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup warm water

2 tsp vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees  

Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl, or your trusty stand mixer. 
Pour batter into 24 cupcake tins with paper liners

Bake as directed on your box mix.

Step Two: The Fillings
You'll need to first pick a filling.  Please note, if you are crazy like me and want to do both, make sure to adjust the proportions!  I did 2/3 of the Oreo ball recipe, and 1/3 of the Oreo fluff recipe (and for the fluff, I have quite a bit leftover.  No problems there- as it was delicious on it's own!)


Option 1: Oreo Ball Filling
Recipe from: all around the interwebs

Ingredients
1 package of Oreos
1 (8 oz) package of Philadelphia cream cheese, softened slightly

Directions

In a food processor, process the Oreos until they are very finely ground.  Add in the cream cheese and process just until a ball of dough forms.  Chill in the fridge for a few minutes before handling.  Roll into balls.  You can fill the cupcakes with the filing as is, or dip in melted almond bark.

Option 2: Oreo Fluff Filling
Recipe from: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1913,150160-224196,00.html

Ingredients
1 (8 oz) package of Philadelphia cream cheese (Softened)
14 oz. Sweetened condensed milk

16 oz. Cool whip

16 oz. pkg. Oreo cookies (crushed in baggie)

Directions
Mix softened cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk.  Fold in cool whip and add the crushed Oreos.  Voila!


Step Three: Cookies and Cream Cheese Frosting

Start with My Favorite Cream Cheese Frosting.  I made a double batch, and added 1/2 package of Oreos, finely ground. 

Frost and decorate the cupcakes, and there you have it!