for children big and small

I love a surprise.  As much as I enojoy them though, I always seem to say or do something that ruins it for myself.  I suppose I just talk too much and poke my nose in too many places.  I almost ruined Torren's proposal by not keeping my mouth shut and as a child I literally had presents thrown at me well-before they were to be opened because I was being too obnoxious.  Proposal aside, I have gotten a bit better over the years because I would very much like to be surprised and have it be successful.  I know that there are lots of people that don't like surprises and would rather have the whole deal laid out for them.  Well, how about a food surprise?  It's not like I am hiding a miniature pet or gross, creepy crawly inside anything (talk to me on Halloween though and I may sing a different tune), just a sweet little fun "hooray!" for when you take a bite.  I think things are so much more entertaining when you learn there's more than what is staring you in the face.

I have been wanting to make a "cookies 'n cream" cupcake for well over a couple of years now.  Who doesn't appreciate an Oreo®?  Then again, who does appreciate the Cookies 'N' Creme candy bar?  Why such an unsung treat, my white chocolate delight?  No matter, as long as they keep making them, I will hoard them for myself and the handful of people I know that enjoy them.  I knew I just had to incorporate the two.  Sadly, I have tried baking with these candy bars and they virtually melt down to nothing by the time I take out my confections.  They would be a great future cupcake stuffer or quick-baking cookie addition.  Considering how long a cupcake takes to bake, they may not hold up all that well but I will try again soon.  Regardless, I felt the "'n cream" part meant that the cupcake should be a white cake rather than a chocolate.  Of course, you can change this up however you prefer.  I felt that this recipe for white cake was pretty dense and I was very happy with that.

The surprise in these yummies are from top to bottom with the cute Mini Oreo® tucked within the frosting mountain, the large chunks of cookie pushed in the centers of the poured batter and the cookie crumb base.  Brush your teeth after these because you are going to have a cookies 'n cream explosion in your mouth!  Tee-hee, I'm such a nerd.

Cookies 'n Cream Cupcakes

Yield: 18 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
cupcake
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 C Oreo® crumbs
1/2 C lightly broken Oreos

frosting adapted from Amy Sedaris'  I Like You (Absolutely hilarious.  That Sedaris fam is nuts.)
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 C confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 C milk (or cream)
3/4 C Oreo® crumbs
18 Mini Oreos®
2 Hershey's® Cookies 'n' Creme bars

DIRECTIONS
cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
1. Evenly distribute  the 1 C of Oreo® crumbs to the liners.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg whites, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt, add to the creamed mixture alternating with the milk until batter is smooth.  Pour or spoon batter into the liners, filling to 2/3-3/4 full.
4. Distribute 1/2 C of broken cookie pieces into each of the batter-filled cups and push them down into the centers.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cupcakes fully cool before frosting.

frosting
1. Verbatim from I Like You:
"In a bowl, combine 1 box (1 pound) of confectioners' sugar, 1 stick of unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup of milk or light cream and beat for a while. Really whip it, don't be afraid to get in there. I occasionally add food coloring and sometimes substitute pure almond extract for vanilla.  If you do choose to add pure almond extract instead of vanilla, you're on your own. I don't know the measurement for it, but I do know it's less than the amount of vanilla you would add."  Oh Amy, are you sure that you're not from my family?
2. Stir in the 3/4C crushed Oreos®
3. Set a Mini Oreo® on the top of each cupcake and frosting accordingly.  Break apart the candy bar and stick a few pieces into the top of the frosting dome of wonderment.

Nutrition: 409 cal, 16g fat, 124mg sod, 65g carb, 42g sugar, 0.66g fiber, 2g protein