Soft and fluffy Oreo Cupcakes are made with a sturdy white cupcake base and topped off with a cookies & cream frosting! Made completely from scratch! Recipe includes a how-to video.
Cookies & Cream Cupcakes
In a perfect world, every cake recipe would translate perfectly into a batch of springy, moist, and perfectly domed cupcakes. In reality, this is often not the case.
When I was developing my perfect Oreo cake that I shared with you last week, I was so excited to test the recipe as Oreo cupcakes. One of my most commonly asked questions about every cake is whether or not it can be transformed into cupcakes, and I was excited to be able to say that yes it worked wonderfully for cupcakes.
Only… it didn’t. While the batter made for beautiful, sturdy, soft, and level cake layers, this didn’t translate well to cupcakes. The taste was phenomenal, but the cupcakes fell in on themselves, deflated, and shrank. It was sad and disheartening and I drowned my sorrows with at least half a dozen shrunken (but still so tasty) cupcakes. I shouldn’t have been so surprised, though. I found that I needed separate recipes for red velvet cake and red velvet cupcakes, carrot cake and carrot cake cupcakes, so why not Oreo cake and Oreo cupcakes.
I got to work, and roughly 8-dozen test batches later had an Oreo cupcake recipe that yielded slightly domed, sturdy but super soft and fluffy cupcakes that bake up beautifully, every time.
This recipe was so carefully developed. Ratios were adjusted and tested over and over again to carefully balance the leaveners (baking powder and baking soda) for the perfect lift, whipped egg whites for ideal fluffiness, oil for moisture, clear vanilla for pristine color, and milk for levity and lightness.
The end result is a glorious, mouthwatering Oreo cupcake (and we haven’t even gotten to the cookies & cream frosting yet!).
I think you’ll find the recipe to be pretty straightforward (especially if you’ve made any of my other cake recipes, especially my white cake or lemon cake), but I’ve included some helpful tips and tricks below, as well as a how-to video in the recipe card.
Helpful Hints and Tips
- When breaking the Oreos for your cake batter, don’t crush them too small or they’ll turn your batter gray (this also happens if you over-mix!) and you won’t have discernible pops of cookie in your cupcakes. I break mine by hand to keep from crushing them too much.
- When preparing the Oreos for your frosting you want them to be as fine as possible or you’ll end up clogging your piping tip. I pulverize mine with a food processor for this step! I love this little multitool for quick jobs like this!
- Mix it up a little! Try your favorite flavor of Oreos rather than classic!
- Save a few cookie crumbs after pulverizing them to sprinkle on top of the cupcakes.
- Pasteurized egg whites (the kind you buy at the store in a carton) will not always whip to stiff peaks, so I only recommend using fresh egg whites for this recipe.
- Don’t over-mix when folding the egg whites into the batter or you’ll deflate your egg whites and your cupcakes will be dense.
- This recipe uses egg whites only. Save your egg yolks for another recipe, like my cream puffs, eclairs, or creme brûlée!
Oreo Cupcake Frosting
The cookies & cream frosting is possibly my favorite part of these already-amazing Oreo cupcakes! I use a batch of my (all-time favorite) cream cheese frosting and mix in pulverized Oreos. The cream cheese flavor complements the cupcakes beautifully and I highly recommend using it. However, if you prefer you can make one of the following frostings and stir your crushed Oreos into that instead:
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Buttercream Frosting (classic American)
- Chocolate Buttercream
- Ermine Frosting
- White Chocolate Buttercream
Please note that while you don’t want to break your cookies too small for the cupcake portion, it is very important that you pulverize your cookies to very fine crumbs for the frosting. If you intend to pipe your icing (as I did on the cupcakes in these photos) it’s especially important, as small bits of cookie that aren’t crushed will clog the piping tip.
I decorated all of the cupcakes in this post using the Ateco 848 tip, it’s my favorite decorating tip.
Making in Advance & Storing
Frosted cupcakes will keep for up to two days at room temperature in an airtight container, or up to a week in the refrigerator, though the fridge is likely to dry out the cupcakes a bit. You can also make these in advance and freeze them (frosted or not) for several months.
More Recipes to Try:
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
Oreo Cupcakes
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil may substitute vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup (80 g) sour cream
- ½ Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup whole milk room temperature preferred
- 3 large egg whites room temperature preferred
- 8 Oreos broken into pieces
FROSTING
- 1 batch cream cheese frosting (click for recipe)
- 6 Oreo cookies pulverized to fine crumbs
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a 12 count muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil and stir until well-combined. Add sour cream and vanilla extract, stir well.¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, 6 Tablespoons avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil, ⅓ cup (80 g) sour cream, ½ Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.1 ½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ⅛ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- Gently alternate adding dry ingredients and milk to wet ingredients, stirring until just-combined after each addition (don’t over-mix or cupcakes will be dense and dry).⅓ cup whole milk
- In a separate clean, dry bowl, use an electric mixer to beat your egg whites until you reach stiff peaks (they will be bright white and have increased in volume and when you pull the batter out of the mixture the peaks that form will stay stiff and upright and will not fold over or dissolve into the batter).3 large egg whites
- Gently fold the egg whites into the batter with a spatula until completely combined.
- Carefully stir in broken cookie pieces, then evenly divide cupcake batter into prepared pans, filling each liner ⅔-¾ full. Bake in 350F (175C) oven for 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Allow to cool completely in cupcake tin before removing and covering with frosting.8 Oreos
FROSTING
- Prepare cream cheese frosting or preferred frosting according to recipe instructions, then stir in pulverized cookie crumbs (if desired, reserve a tablespoon or two to sprinkle on top of the icing). Spread or pipe over cooled cupcakes. Enjoy!1 batch cream cheese frosting (click for recipe), 6 Oreo cookies
Notes
Making as a Cake:
This recipe was specifically developed for cupcake tins. If you are looking to make an Oreo cake, please see my perfect Oreo cake recipe!Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Darra
Hi there! Love your recipes and have made your Oreo cake several times. Do you know if these cupcakes can be made gluten free? I normally just swap out the flour with Bobs Red Mill 1:1 baking flour, but wondered if anyone has tried this?
Sam Merritt
Hi Darra! I have not personally tried gluten free flour and I haven’t had any feedback on this particular recipe. If you do try it I would love to know how they turn out. 🙂
Danielle Reed
Can I use cake flour or will that change how the cake will turn out?
Sam Merritt
Hi Danielle! Cake flour will work as long as it’s substituted properly. 🙂
Antonia’s Cakez
Thanks for the recipe! They are delicious, perfect crumb and not too sweet ! Would not change a thing 😃
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you enjoyed them, Antonia! Thanks for using our recipe 🩷
Jordan
Amazing. Loved your cake recipe as well. Can this be doubled without modification? Or do you recommend individual batches?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jordan! This recipe should double just fine 😊
Taryn
Love all your recipes. If making these as mini cupcakes, are there any other adjustments to make other than shorter bake time? Thanks!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Taryn! You shouldn’t need any other adjustments. Enjoy!
Sam
Hello ,
Can you replace the sour cream with something else?
Thanks!
Sam
Full-fat plain Greek yogurt should work 🙂
Michaela
hey do they need to be refrigerated with cream cheese icing?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Michaela! We actually talk about how to store the cupcakes within the post 🙂
Russell
May I substitute this recipe with other cookies? 🙂 I have a bunch of graham crackers and biscoff cookies I need to use up. Thank you! Love your recipes.
Sam
Hi Russell! I think it could work, but I haven’t tried it to know for sure. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Danielle
I’ve never written a comment on a recipe before but I just had to…the way you wrote the ingredients under each step….THE BEST!!! Can we please make this the norm?!?
Sam
I’m glad it was helpful! 🙂
Caitie
First time trying a recipe good enough to leave a rating! These were a HUGE hit! Soooo so yummy and moist! The only thing I changed was that I did a buttercream Oreo frosting instead of cream cheese. So good!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cupcakes so much, Caitie! 🙂
Jessica
Can you freeze these cupcakes?
Sam
Hi Jessica! That should work just fine. 🙂
Emmi
I made this recipe and I altered a few things.
I used Dark Oreos.
I Used 4 Large Egg Whites and Stabilized Them using Cream of Tarter to make them super dense fluffy and hold up well.
I used about 1 cup of beaten stabilized egg whites IN the cream cheese frosting to lighten up the dense cream cheese.
Emine Oruç
1/3 fincan süt gram olarak ne kadar
Sam
I don’t know the weight in grams, but it is 79 ml. I hope that helps. 🙂
Ann
about 82 grams
Jennifer
Hi Sam! I am just so curious why no butter in this recipe? Sorry to be annoying, I am trying to understand recipe formulations better. Thanks so much 🙂
Sam
Hi Jennifer! I found butter to be too drying in this recipe whereas the oil keeps the cupcakes nice and moist!
Michelle
I personally loved this recipe and so did all my friends. After I refrigerated them over night they became a bit more dense but still delicious!
Wondering: should my stiff peaks look bubbly and chunky or smooth?
Sam
Hi Michelle! You can actually see the stiff peaks at around the 2:00 mark of the video right above the recipe. They shouldn’t be chunky. I’m glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Jennifer
Oh ok that makes sense! Your Cupcakes are always so moist and delicious – thanks so much!