Decadent Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

My friend Heather at Out of the Box into the Kitchen posted the link for this recipe on her Facebook. I’d been looking for something fun and new to take to a church party, and the pictures were so amazing and so appealing that, despite my aversion to packaged cookies, made me want to make them. I found organic chocolate sandwich cookies and felt moderately better about the recipe — but enjoyed the flavor despite the processed product in it. (HA!) So, I’m not going to fool you into thinking there’s anything moderately good for you about these. I did use organic eggs and organic cookies — that’s the best I can give you. But, oh my, they were good. Very rich, but very good.

CUPCAKES:

24 chocolate crème filled sandwich cookies (I used organic Newman’s O’s)
2½ cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp Kosher or sea salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1⅔ cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
20 chocolate crème filled sandwich cookies

FROSTING:

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
6 TBS unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 TBS pure vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 TBS heavy cream

GARNISH:

crumbs from the cookies
12 chocolate crème filled sandwich cookies

large bowl/medium bowl
mixer
sifter
measuring cups/spoons
spatula
sharp knife
cutting board
2 cupcake pans
cupcake liners

Preheat oven to 350° degrees F (120° degrees C).

Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

Take 24 cookies and separate them, placing the half with the crème filling in the bottom of each liner, crème side up.

Quarter 20 cookies and set aside to put into the batter. (They are going to crumble up as you quarter them, and that’s fine.)

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

Beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes.

Add egg whites, one at a time. Beating well in between each addition.

Add vanilla.

With the mixer on low, slowly add half of the flour mixture and mix until well blended.

Add the milk, and mix until blended.

Slowly add the remaining flour mixture.

Using a spatula, gently stir in the quartered cookies.

Evenly fill the wells of the cupcake pans, using all of the batter. (This does not rise much, so don’t worry about overfilling.)

Bake at 350° degrees F for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cakes comes out clean. Rotate the pans halfway through cooking.

TO MAKE THE FROSTING:

Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.

Add vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Sift the powdered sugar.

Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix on low until thoroughly blended.

Add the cream.

Beat on high for 4 minutes.

GARNISH:

Use a couple of the spare cookies from creating the “crust” and roll them with a rolling pin until they are fine crumbs.

Cut 12 sandwich cookies in half.

Frost each cooled cupcake with frosting.

Sprinkle with crumbs. Top with half of a sandwich cookie.

24 cupcakes

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Low in cholesterol Low in sodium
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I would love to hear any feedback about this recipe. Did you make it? Did you enjoy it? Did you make any adjustments to it?

Hallee

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