How’s everyone adjusting to daylight saving?  I know I have been wiped.  I’m not sure how it is where you are, but winter has settled in and settled in hard.  Snow and -17C yesterday in lovely Edmonton, Alberta; but hey at least it’s sunny right?  To be honest I enjoy this time of year.  It’s before you are sick of the snow and cold, you have the holidays coming up to look forward to, but right now it is just peaceful.  Sitting with a mug of hot cocoa, losing yourself in a good book, looking out the window at the falling snow.  Getting a few more winter walks in in before the snow gets too deep or the weather turns too cool.   Hibernating with the fire place on, with no social obligations to pull you out into the cold.  A time to rest, recharge and get ready to be merry in a few weeks. 

So my lovely readers, I spent a few days just doing that.  I know I’m supposed to make it sound like sunshine and roses online but that’s not my jam.  Getting this site and the associated social media up and running took a lot.  Between the content, design, and technical difficulties, I put some serious time into it.  Don’t get me wrong, I love creating and I love sharing.  I still have a laundry list of ‘To Do’ items, so many ideas for improvement and how to showcase some delicious recipes, and I am SO excited to get into them all for you!  However I deserved a break, so I took one.  Now instead of tired, I am excited and ready to share some yummy recipes. 

Today, I give you Cookies and Cream Cupcakes!  These are one of my favorite cupcakes to whip up for events.  Baby showers, Halloween, wine night, you name it and they are usually a hit.  Now, as usual before we get started, a few tips for you. The MOST important one is that if you are going to attempt to pipe this frosting, make sure you have a large cake piping tip, not your standard fancy cupcake tips, unless you want to be unclogging the piping bag every 30 seconds.  The icing has cookie chunks in it, which makes it delicious, but not fancy piping design friendly.  Secondly, I have done the crumbled cookie in the batter one of two ways.  One, crumble and throw a cookie in each cupcake cup, then spoon the batter over.  In my experience, the vanilla cake is light enough to allow the cookies to rise and distribute evenly.  However, if you are worried about this, another method would be to put a small bit of batter in each cup first, then add the cookie bits, and then top with more batter.  This is a standard 12 cupcake recipe for vanilla cupcakes.  However, because we are adding a cookie to each cupcake that actually makes the batter stretch a bit further.  Depending on how much batter you add to each cup, it ranges on how many extra cupcakes you will get.  15 is a close estimate but when making this recipe I always make sure to have extra cookies on hand in case I have extra batter and to garnish the cupcakes.  There are 39 cookies per regular package, you’re welcome J

For ingredients you will need:

Cupcakes

• 1.25 cups of cake and pastry flour (NOT the self raising version)
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1.25 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1.25 teaspoons of real vanilla extract (I prefer the Mexican or Madagascar, makes a delicious vanilla flavor)
• 1/2 cup of canola oil
• 1/2 cup of buttermilk
• 15 regular oreos

Icing

• 1.5 cups of salted butter
• 4.5 cups of powdered sugar
• 3 teaspoons of vanilla
• 2 teaspoons of cream
• 15 regular oreos

Ok, let’s start with the cupcakes.  First preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grab your cupcake tin and get some paper liners into it.  Now, take an oreo cookie, break it up into small chunks and put it into a cupcake liner.  One broken up cookie per cupcake liner. 

Next, in a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Put to the side and grab a large mixing bowl.  To the new bowl, add your cracked eggs to the bowl.  A little tip my mom always taught me is never crack your eggs directly into what you wat to make.  Crack them into a separate bowl first so then if the eggs are bad, or shell bits get in, you aren’t ruining your whole recipe.  Whip the eggs really good with a whisk ore electric mixer, until they are well mixed and a little bit frothy.  Add your sugar and continue to mix.  Add vanilla and oil and beat until everything is combined, probably about 1 minute.  Add half your flour mixture and mix and then add half your buttermilk and mix.  Add the other half of flour, mix and add remaining buttermilk and mix.  Mix until well combined and smooth. 

I like to pour some batter into a glass measuring cup so I can pour the batter directly into the cupcake cups with less mess.  Fill cupcake liners until ¾ full and cookie is covered.   Bake for 12 minutes, but make sure to do the toothpick test!  Cool on cooling rack until ready to ice. 

While the cupcakes are baking, make your icing.  In a large bowl, beat the butter until it is super soft and fluffy.  Beat in the vanilla.  Once vanilla is combined, start adding the sugar a little bit at a time until it is fully mixed.  Crush your oreos well.  I like to put them in a food processor but just for a quick spin.  You still want very small chunks, not just crumbs.  Once they the oreos are crushed, little bit of crumbs and chunks, use spatula or spoon and combine well into the frosting.  Taste and add a few more oreos if it is still to vanilla. 

I like to pile my cupcakes with icing and then top with a whole oreo cookie for garnish, if you have extra left over. 

I hope you guys love these as much as I do, and as always leave me a comment and let me know how they turn out, I love interacting with you all J