Secret Oreo Cookie Cupcakes

This week is National Cupcake Week (http://www.nationalcupcakeweek.co.uk/), a celebration of all things cupcake!  So in honour of the week I thought I’d share my recipe for Secret Oreo Cookie Cupcakes.

I absolutely love Oreos and they’re even better when combined with other sweet treats. Lorraine Pascale has a fabulous recipe for Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies which always go down well in my house (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cookies_and_cream_fudge_48648) but if cupcakes are more your thing try these:

Cupcake Ingredients
150g butter
150g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
125g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
1-2 tbsp milk as needed
12 Oreo cookies

Buttercream Ingredients
350g butter
700g icing sugar
4 Oreo cookies

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until smooth and fluffy.

3. Add the vanilla extract and then the eggs one at a time. If the mixture curdles add in a small amount of flour.

4. Add to the bowl the remaining flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and mix well.  If the mixture is a bit stiff add in some milk.  You should end up with a mixture that looks like this.

5. Line a muffin tin with cupcake cases.

6. Now this is the secret bit!   Place an Oreo cookie in the bottom of each case.

7. Next add the cake mixture on top of each Oreo until the case is about 2/3 full.

8. Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes.  To check if they're cooked insert a skewer into the cakes and it should come out clean.

9. Cool the cakes on a wire rack.

10. In the meantime make your buttercream by mixing together the butter and icing sugar.

11. Place the four remaning Oreos in a plastic bag and bash the living daylights out of them with a rolling pin or similar, then add to the buttercream.

13. Pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes.

14. If you really really like Oreos and are feeling a bit decadent you can even place half on Oreo on top of the buttercream for decoration.

You should end up with something like this, a tasty chocolate cupcake with a secret Oreo hiding in the bottom.