White Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

My best friend, who I live with, LOVES Hershey's Cookies and Cream bars and asked me to make her some cookies and cream cupcakes. I usually make what she asks because she ALWAYS does my dishes (SCORE!!) and is always willing to be my taste tester, even when things don't look so pretty! I searched google and could only find chocolate cupcakes with Oreo's in it and none that used the Hershey's Cookies and Cream bar in it.  I finally came across this recipe and this recipe, both of which had a white cake base but still no Hershey's Cookies and Cream bar, so, I decided to use these recipes as a starting point and adjust to meet my needs.

I tweaked the cupcake recipe and added to it based on my preferences. I placed half an Oreo in the bottom of each cupcake and was very disappointed when they stuck to the liner so bad that they caused more harm then good and will either leave them out next time or will try to grease the liner. For the frosting I used a cream cheese based recipe to give it an extra creamy thick texture.

I don't know if you can tell but the right half of the cupcake
 is missing some on the bottom because the cookie stuck so bad. :( 

Other than the cookie on the bottom mishap, and even with it, they were very yummy! I liked how the white chocolate from the bars melted in them and made the cupcakes even more moist! A little note about my baking times, I have found that my cupcakes turn out better if I heat the oven to 350º and then right after putting in my cupcakes I turn the oven down to 325º. I do have longer baking times because of this but my cupcakes rise better and cook more evenly. Try it out and let me know what you think!

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White Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Yield: about 2 dozen

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

2¼ cups all-purpose flour- sifted

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

8 tbsp. unsalted butter- softened

1 ⅔ cup of sugar

3 large egg whites

1 whole egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup of milk

¾ of a king size Hershey’s Cookie and Cream Bar

25 Oreo cookies chopped up, I used whole cookie with cream included                                              

24 Oreo cookie halves, with cream

Frosting:

½ cup butter- softened

12 oz. cream cheese- softened

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsp. heavy cream

4-5 cups powdered sugar- sifted

½ cup finely crushed Oreos

½ cup Hershey’s Cookie and Cream bar

Directions

Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line cupcake pan with liners. 
2. Place Oreo halve in the bottom of each cupcake liner, cookie side down. 
3. Sift flour into mixing bowl, add baking powder and salt; mix well. 
4. In the bowl of your stand mixer beat on medium the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 
5. Add in egg whites and whole egg, one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each egg. Wipe down sides of the bowl with spatula as needed. 
6. Blend in the vanilla extract. 
7. Turn mixer down to low and add in half the dry ingredients, blend until combined. 
8. Pour in milk; blend until just combined. 
9. Mix in the other half of the dry ingredients; blend until mixed thoroughly. 
10. Place cookies in a zip lock bag and break them into pieces, mine were a little smaller than quarter cookie. Use spatula to mix cookie pieces into batter.  
11. Chop up Hershey’s Cookie and Cream bar into desired size and stir into batter. 
12. Evenly divide batter into lined panned, about 2/3 full.
13. Place pan in oven and immediately turn temperature down to 325º. Bake for about 23 minutes. Let cupcakes cool before frosting.

Frosting:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer combine butter and cream cheese; beat on medium-high until smooth, scraping sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
2. Turn mixer down to medium low, beat in the vanilla extract. 
3. Beat in the heavy cream. 
4. Once well mixed, turn mixer down to low and begin adding sifted powdered sugar until desired consistency. 
5. Crush up cookie tops until smooth (left over from the halves placed in the cupcakes). 
6. Chop up Hershey’s Cookie and Cream bar to desired size; I like a little chunk to my frosting so they were about the size of dry rice. With a spatula stir in cookie crumbs and candy pieces. 

Enjoy! Come, stay awhile, and return often! xoxo