Cookies and (Butter)cream Cupcakes, or, the reason why my pants don't fit this morning

If you want a better picture, buy me a better camera.

Last night, I went to a barbecue at the Delta Chi house. Being the Southern girl that I am, I didn’t want to go empty-handed so I cooked up this recipe and these hot little babies turned out to be delicious. The cookie-crust bottom adds a yummy crunch and a bit of a surprise. (One guy told me they were the best cupcakes he’d ever had, and began referring to me oh-so-creatively as Cupcake Girl. Of course, it’s very possible that he was too intoxicated to remember my name, so I’m not sure if that’s necessarily a compliment.)

Cookies and (Butter)cream Cupcakes

Cookie Cupcakes
( basic cupcake recipe adapted from Cupcake Bakeshop)
Makes 24-26 regular-size cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature, plus another ½ cup for melting
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 ¾ cups of your average Joe, all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups (about 25) Oreos, beaten up like a red-headed stepchild

1. Eat an Oreo. Just to make sure they’re not rotten. In fact, better eat two.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and put the cupcake papers in your muffin tin(s). I suggest using the blue ones. If you use pink, people will know you’re an amateur.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat 1 cup of butter briefly on high until soft.
4. Add in sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs one at a time and beat for a bit between each.
6. Add flour, baking powder, milk, and vanilla. Mix to combine.
7. Stir in ¾ cup of Oreo crumbs. Resist urge to slather batter all over your body and lick it off. (Oh, that’s just me? Uh...nevermind.)
8. Set batter aside, then melt ½ cup butter in the microwave.
9. To make cookie crust bottom: In a separate bowl, mix together melted butter and 2 cups of Oreo crumbs. (These should be really finely smushed.)
10. Place a spoonful of the buttery cookie crumbs in each cupcake paper and press down firmly so that it coats the bottom.
11. Top the cookie crust with a heaping scoop of cupcake batter. The cups should be about two-thirds full.
12. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick (or, if you’re poor/frugal/sensible and don’t want to waste money on toothpicks, the non-lighting end of a match) comes out clean.
13. Let cupcakes cool COMPLETELY before frosting. After frosting, sprinkle remaining Oreo crumbs on top.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup milk

1. Beat butter until creamy.
2. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk, and beat until combined.

Here’s some issues with this recipe. Let’s work through them like Lindsay Lohan and her rehab counselor:

- The cookie crust turned out a little too buttery/greasy after baking. Granted, it was still crunchy and delicious, but when I pulled the cupcakes out of their tin, the butter had soaked through the bottom of the paper. Gross. I would suggest only adding as much butter to the crumbs as necessary to make them sticky. (1/3 cup, perhaps?)

- The frosting is, well, a work in progress. It turned out very VERY buttery and thick, but also very sweet, so I was hesitant to add more powdered sugar. If you have a buttercream recipe you’re more comfortable with, I suggest using that. If you do choose to use this recipe, make sure you wait until the cupcakes have really cooled, otherwise the frosting will melt like…well, butter.