Soft and fluffy chocolate cupcakes with a whole Oreo in the middle, topped with delicious Oreo buttercream frosting make these Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes milk’s new best friend! These are for you, my cookies and cream cupcakes lovers!
Oreos and milk is such a nostalgic after school snack. Turn them into these Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes, and you have yourself an amazing dessert. But snack on these all you want, I don’t judge.
If you fancy a whole cake for a special occasion, check out my Oreo Cake. Or if you prefer your Oreos in a vanilla cake base, try these Vanilla Oreo Cupcakes.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Below is a list of all the ingredients you’ll need for this chocolate Oreo cupcake recipe. I’ve included tips and substitutions, where appropriate. You’ll also find the full ingredient list and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Flour – you’ll need all-purpose flour for the cake.
- Cocoa powder – you can use either Dutch-processed or natural cocoa powder. But I prefer Dutch-processed cocoa for the darker color cake and a richer chocolate flavor.
- Coffee – to intensify the chocolate flavor in the cupcakes. If you don’t have freshly brewed coffee, you can substitute instant coffee or instant espresso, make it per the packaging direction. If you don’t want to use coffee, simply replace it with water, milk or more buttermilk. Note that the flavor will be less chocolaty than intended.
- Sugar – two kinds of sugar is used in this recipe: granulated sugar for the cake and powdered sugar for the frosting. You could use brown sugar instead of granulated sugar but there is no substitution for powdered sugar.
- Salt – salt is used both in the cake and the frosting. I use kosher salt since that’s what we have in our pantry. If you’re using table salt, use ⅔ as much.
- Leavening agents – both baking soda and baking powder are used in the cake.
- Buttermilk – if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can substitute half milk, half yogurt or sour cream, or milk and lemon juice. I have a separate post all about buttermilk and how to substitute.
- Eggs – for the cake only.
- Unsalted butter – used for both the cupcakes and the Oreo cupcake frosting. If you use salted butter, the cupcakes and frosting may turn out too salty.
- Oil – any flavorless oil like canola oil or vegetable oil will work in this recipe. But in a pinch you can use olive oil or even coconut oil. I used coconut oil in these chocolate muffins and the coconut oil flavor wasn’t too noticeable.
- Vanilla extract – used to enhance the flavor of the chocolate cake as well as the frosting. Make sure to use pure vanilla extract and not an artificial vanilla flavoring, it makes a big difference in the final taste.
- Cream – heavy whipping cream is used in the frosting to lighten up the buttercream and add volume.
- Oreo – a whole Oreo cookie is baked in the middle of each cupcake and crushed Oreo is incorporated into the buttercream to make a delicious Oreo buttercream frosting.
How to make Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes
Oreo cupcake batter
The base of these cupcakes is the same as my amazing chocolate ganache cupcakes. They are soft and moist with an intense chocolate flavor. Then a whole Oreo is baked into the middle of each cupcake.
- Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and wet ingredients in another mixing bowl.
- Add the two together.
- Whisk until a smooth batter forms.
- Add a whole Oreo to the bottom of each muffin tin and divide the cake batter evenly into 15 prepared muffin cups and bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Oreo buttercream frosting
This Oreo buttercream frosting is an American Style Buttercream Frosting. It is buttery rich but not too sweet since it is made with a lot less sugar than a typical American buttercream.
If you’re not a fan of American buttercream in general, try Swiss meringue buttercream instead, with the Oreo crumbs folded in.
- Finely ground the Oreos in a food processor or blender.
- Add all the frosting ingredients to the stand mixer bowl.
- Beat until the frosting is lighter in color and fluffy.
- Stir in the crushed Oreos.
Add frosting to cupcakes
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a piping tip with a large opening and pipe swirls on top of the cupcakes. I used a Magic Line French Star Tip size 8FT (equivalent Ateco 868) to decorate these cookies and cream cupcakes.
Note: To ensure your Oreo crumbs don’t get stuck inside the piping tip, make sure the Oreo cookies are finely crushed and use a piping tip with the largest opening that you own.
If you don’t want to pipe the frosting, you can simply add it on top of the cupcakes using a small offset spatula or a butter knife.
Baker’s Tips and FAQs
Variations of chocolate Oreo cupcakes
I made these cupcakes 3 different ways. My favorite way is with a whole Oreo baked in the middle like shown in this post. But you can also try them:
- With crushed Oreos mixed into the chocolate cupcake batter, similar to the way I made these Vanilla Oreo Cupcakes.
- Or filled with Oreo buttercream instead. To do this, just make extra Oreo frosting and fill plain chocolate cupcakes with the frosting. Check out the process photos for these Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes to see how to add filling to cupcakes.
How to store cookies and cream cupcakes
- Room temperature: you can leave these cupcakes out at room temperature the day they are made if you are planning to serve them right away.
- Refrigerator: it is best to keep frosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will last for up to a week.
- Freezer: these can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving. To freeze frosted cupcakes, flash-freeze them on a baking tray first until solid. This will help the frosting keep its shape. Then wrap them well in plastic and place them in a freezer bag or wrap again in foil.
More cupcakes
- Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes
- Pina Colada Cupcakes
- Banana Split Cupcakes
- Pinata Cupcakes
- Caramel Apple Cupcakes
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📖 Recipe card
Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate cupcakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (135 g)
- ½ cup cocoa powder (natural or dutch-processed, 40 g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar (199 g)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup coffee (cooled, 113 g)
- ½ cup buttermilk (115 g)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (50 g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 15 Oreos
Oreo buttercream
- 12 oz unsalted butter (3 sticks, 340 g, room temperature)
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar (150 g, sifted)
- 6 tablespoon heavy whipping cream (85 g)
- 1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- A big pinch of salt
- 10 Oreos (finely crushed)
Instructions
Make the cupcakes
- Brew the coffee and let cool to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line 15 muffin tins with cupcake paper and set aside. You’ll need to use two standard size muffin pans for this recipe.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cooled coffee, buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla until thoroughly combined.
- Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder in another bowl, add salt and sugar and whisk until evenly distributed. Add the flour mixture into the wet ingredient mixture and stir until a smooth batter forms.
- Add a whole Oreo to the bottom of each cup and add batter directly on top. Fill each cup only ⅔ to ¾ full.
- Bake for 18 – 19 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
- Allow the cupcakes to rest in the pan for 10 – 15 minutes, until cool to the touch, before removing them from the pan and setting them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Oreo frosting
- Add butter, cream, and vanilla extract to the stand mixer bowl.
- Sift powdered sugar into the bowl and add the salt.
- Stir to incorporate all of the ingredients, then increase the mixer speed gradually to high and beat until the frosting is lighter in color and fluffy, about 5 – 15 minutes
- Ground the Oreos finely in a food processor or blender, stir into the buttercream until evenly mixed.
- Fill a pastry bag fitted with a piping tip of your choice, preferably one with a large opening, and pipe swirls on top of the cool cupcakes.
Notes
- Instant coffee or instant espresso can be used instead of freshly brewed coffee. Make the instant coffee per directions on the packaging and let cool before using.
- Variations: add crushed Oreos to the cupcake batter instead of whole Oreos, fill plain chocolate cupcakes with Oreo frosting.
Nutrition
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Be forewarned that the grams don’t update if you want to make a larger recipe. What a waste.
Yes, unfortunately you will have to do some math for the metric units.
These sound perfect. I’m also not a fan of sickly sweet frosting but I am totally a frosting girl so it looks like this is the right recipe for me.
Cookies and Cream is my favorite ice cream flavor, so I see nothing wrong with this recipe! :0)
beautiful presentation…looks delicious.