Mini Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
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Mini vanilla cupcakes filled with crushed Oreos, and topped with creamy vanilla buttercream. Plus, a mini Oreo at the bottom of each one! Instructions for standard cupcakes and layer cake included as well.
It is a scientifically proven fact that little things are cute and we, as humans, cannot help but be drawn to said little/cute things. This science totally applies to cupcakes, too.
Speaking of cupcakes… I cannot believe that after almost an entire year of blogging, I have zero cupcake recipes in my collection. ZERO! My friends can’t believe it either.
(EDIT: I now have a ton of cupcake recipes!)
I think that after owning my own business (these are probably my favorite cupcakes I ever did), I baked so many cupcakes that they kind of seemed run-of-the-mill to me. But it’s time I strapped my cupcake boots back on and started bringing you some of my favorite little personal cakes!
I have several base recipes (chocolate, vanilla, yellow, white, strawberry) that I used when I made cakes and cupcakes all the time, and I loved adapting them to have different mix-ins, fillings, and frosting combos.
This one was one of my favorite, and I often used it to make cake pops with additional chunks of crushed Oreos on the outside, which were always a huge hit. Lucky for you, I’ve included in the recipe how to turn these mini cuppies into standard size cupcakes as well as a cake!
The recipe is pretty standard. No weird ingredients. You’ll be working with melted butter, so let’s make sure your egg is at room temperature. If you don’t have time to let it come to room temp on its own, stick it in a bowl of warm water for 5-1o minutes and it should be good to go!
You’ll also be using some yogurt: Greek, plain, vanilla, even sour cream. Any of those would work fine.
Because I made mini cupcakes, I used mini Oreos. One little Oreo fit perfectly at the bottom of each cupcake liner. Verdict? The best part of the cupcake, if you ask me. If you’re making standard size cupcakes, you’ll probably want to use regular sized Oreos, because they fit the bottom of a cupcake liner perfectly as well.
Funny how that happened, eh? If you’re making a cake, you can use either size of Oreos. I suggest using the standard size and lining the bottom of your cake pan (!!!). <–I may just have to do this soon!
I made these cupcakes for a work party, and they got rave reviews. I chose to frost them with my standard vanilla buttercream (also what I love to frost this chocolate layer cake with) and chose NOT to put crushed Oreos into the frosting.
If you decide you’d like more Oreo chunks, be my guest and throw some in your buttercream (and invite me over for a taste test??). I would suggest starting with 1/2 cup and add more as you see fit.
Personally, I don’t think you can ever have too many Oreos, but that’s just me.
One thing about this recipe– don’t be afraid to fill the liners to the top. After you fill the liners, you’ll tap the cupcake pan on the counter a few times so the batter can settle around the mini Oreo. This should help the level go down a bit.
I found that the regular amount of batter that I usually put in my mini cupcakes made some smallish cuppies. There is a lot of leavener in these, so they puff up quite a bit and have nice domed tops. Fill the liners, but don’t go too crazy!
Once your cupcakes are completely cool, get to decorating. Add some sprinkles or crushed Oreos on top or stick another Oreo in the tip of the swirl. Go crazy. There is plenty of room for Oreo bits in these mini cupcakes, and I think you should take advantage of all of them.
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These cupcakes are buttery, packed with vanilla notes, and each piece of crushed Oreo brings that iconic chocolate and cream flavor to every bite. The velvety smooth vanilla buttercream that sits on top makes these cupcakes a true cookies & cream dessert.
Plus, remember the cute factor? Yeah, always important in desserts. Taste + cuteness. These cuppies have it all!
Love cookies and cream treats? Look no further than my extensive collection of cookies and cream treats: cookies and cream ice cream cake, no bake Oreo pie, cookies and cream cookies, and cookies and cream brownies.
Mini Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Ingredients
CUPCAKES
- 42 mini Oreos for cupcake liners plus 2/3 cup crushed mini Oreos divided*
- 1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup yogurt plain, vanilla, Greek, or regular, any fat content; you may also use sour cream
- 3/4 cup milk any
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- additional crushed or whole mini Oreos for decoration optional
FROSTING
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup milk or cream
- salt to taste
- 1/2 cup crushed mini Oreos optional
Instructions
CUPCAKES
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a mini-cupcake pan with mini-cupcake liners, and place a mini Oreo in the bottom of each liner. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and allow to cool a bit. Whisk in the sugar, egg, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until no lumps remain. Gently stir in crushed Oreos.
- Fill the cupcake liners almost to the top with batter. Tap the pan on the counter a few times so the batter can settle around the mini Oreo. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
FROSTING
- In a large bowl with a handheld mixer, or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.
- With the mixer on low, add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk or cream. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until completely smooth, about 3 minutes. If frosting is too stiff, add more milk. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar. Add salt to taste. If you would like to add crushed Oreos to the frosting, start with 1/2 cup and add more if necessary. Fold the crushed Oreos in with a spatula.
- For more buttercream troubleshooting tips, see my book, The Home Baker's Guide to Basic Buttercream.
- Frost the cupcakes using a piping bag or a large zip top bag with the corner snipped off. Top with crushed Oreos, stick a whole mini Oreo in the top of the swirl, or leave them plain. Cupcakes will stay fresh covered at room temperature up to 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
These cookie and cream cupcakes look so tasty! The oreos look amazing in it!
Thanks, Shelby!
Mini cupcakes are in the same league as puppies, kittens, and fluffy baby ducks! I can’t help but awwww and oooohhhhh over them!
These cupcakes look divine, and I was so happy last year when my Mum found me some gluten free ‘Oreos’ so that I could get that cookies and cream action back into my life. I expect these will be gracing the table at my little sister’s birthday party next month because she is a cookies and cream fan extraordinaire and nothing would please me more than making her a gorgeous Fresh April Flours’ Cookies and Cream Cupcake tower for her birthday!
Thanks for sharing Lynn!
GF Oroes, eh?! Sounds like something that would be pretty dangerous for me if I was GF and found a good substitute, hahaha. We absolutely cannot buy Oreos. They are way too tempting, even for extreme healthy eaters like us. It was super hard having the mini ones around because I kept thinking “it’s like, 1/4 of a regular Oreo!” BAD NEWS. It sounds like Jess needs these for her birthday, for sure… 🙂
How many mini cupcakes does this recipe make?
Thanks
I’m not sure why it wasn’t showing, but it is now! It makes 42 mini cupcakes.
These are adorable and I am obsessed with everything mini! 🙂
Check out mine when you get a chance- http://www.forloveofbaking.com.
Sydney
For the Love of Baking
these cupcakes are amazing I love them they taste so good
How many regular-sized cupcakes can I make?
As stated in the recipe, this will make 12 standard size cupcakes.
I made it last night and its a great recipe. I loved it
So glad you liked it! Thanks for the feedback!
Would you be able to switch out the butter and use a crisco butter stick instead? Would that change the consistency at all?
I’m not entirely sure how well that would substitute, as I’ve never used Crisco in place of butter in anything except icing. If you try it, let me know!
I just made these last night and they were a hit! They domed beautifully (I filled the cups up almost all the way), and everyone loved the crunchy surprise at the bottom. I made regular-sized cupcakes and did find the scaling to be slightly off — this made about 14 cupcakes, required substantially more baking time (about 25-28 minutes), and yielded a ton of extra frosting. All in all, would definitely make again.
Thanks for reporting back, Amy! I use this (essentially identical) recipe for my vanilla bean cupcakes, and the time and yield works out just fine, but that can totally be based on a difference in ovens and the way we filled our liners. Either way, I’m glad that you and the tastebuds you shared them with all enjoyed them!
hi what is the use of yogurt in the recipe!! can i just sub it with milk? 🙂
Hi Agnes, the yogurt is imperative to adding moisture and substance to the batter. Subbing out milk will make the batter too runny.
hi thank you so much for ur reply!!!!!!!!
Hi again! In addition to making your wonderful cake pops, I also made these AMAZING mini cupcakes! They were so good!! I love the mini’s!!!! So please with how they turned out! Can’t wait to find more treasures to make from your website!! <3
These cuppies are definitely a winner recipe 🙂 I’m glad you agree! Hope you find more goodies you enjoy!
Tanks so much for sharing this recipe, I can’t wait to try it! Can these be frozen unfrosted? Would it change the texture at all do you think?
Hi, Dana– yes. They can be frozen! Cover or wrap tightly, up to 2 months. Thaw in fridge then decorate!
Can non-dairy yogurt be used…either soy or coconut based?
Hi, Nikki– yes, any yogurt is fine.
These were delicious! I made them for a big party and they were one of the first to go. I did put crushed Oreos in the frosting and then I just gave each mini cupcake a smear of frosting (rather than piping a more substantial amount) and skipped the decorative Oreo and crushed Oreos on top. They were perfect and one of my favorites of the night.
I’m so glad you and everyone else enjoyed them!
Hi Lynn! These cupcakes look delicious and I can’t wait to make them. I was wondering what pan you used for these? I see in the make this recipe it shows the Wilton pan, but when I looked it up, it seems to create shorter cupcakes. And it doesn’t look like the one you have in your photos. Thank you for your help!
Hi, Hima! The link you clicked is correct, just make sure you’re looking at the “mini” pan and not the “tops” pan. All of the reviews for all of the pan sizes will be in the same post, so you may have seen reviews of the “tops” pans, which, yes, show very short/small baked goods. The mini is the one I use regularly.
These were really tasty. Came out to 30 mini cupcakes. Definitely took longer
than 15 minutes prep time and needed to cook longer than 11 minutes.
A bit too much work for this non-baker but I appreciate the recipe. Didn’t use a mini-oreo on the bottom because that seemed like way too much oreo for such a little cupcake. I sprinkled some oreo crumbs on top.
Honey…this was Deelish! The frosting was my highlight. In 1 year of my bake journey I had yet to find a Buttercream I absolutely love. This is my 2nd try on your recipes. That vanilla bean 😍. That frosting was good too, but I wasn’t able to get it to hold its shape after piping. I was super proud of the decorated 🧁 this time. Thank you!!
Thank you so much for this, Tamara! Any time you can’t get frosting to hold shape, add a little more powdered sugar to stiffen it up. So glad you enjoyed everything, though 🙂
Made the full sized version of these and they were a huge hit!! The Oreos on the bottom are a nice touch.
Thanks so much, Erin! So glad you liked them.
Can you provide the measurements for 24 mini cup cakes please. As I would like to make small batches of these
Hi, Yogitha– you’ll just halve the recipe and that should get you about 24 cupcakes.
Loved this recipe! I took the option and added crushed Oreos to the buttercream. I ran my Oreos through a food processor, so the buttercream was still easy to pipe. The cookie on the bottom adds a nice dimension! 5 star recipe for sure. I’ll be making this again! Friends and family loved them. Great recipe!
Thank you so much, Crystal! 🙂