let's bake: oreo birthday cupcakes

this recipe was dreamt up over dinner with some friends one evening, craving dessert, and chatting about the goodness of oreos. america's favorite cookie now comes in almost every flavor imaginable. birthday cake oreos? they exist. but what about an oreo birthday cake? well, it exists now.

this original experiment cake was baked as an entire cake, not cupcakes, and involved one entire package of [what else] birthday cake oreos, baked in. [photo included at the end] let's just say this cake was a HIT with our friends and definitely required a second adaptation in a more... portion-controlled form.
 
ok, enough storytelling. you probably don't care... LET ME TELL YOU HOW TO MAKE IT!

what you will need:

• one box of funfetti cake mix [any brand, but it should be white and include sprinkles]
• all ingredients required by the box [water, oil, and eggs]
• one package birthday cake oreos [the original chocolate kind]
• white funfetti frosting + the sprinkles included
• colorful sprinkles
• cupcake pan + paper cups
• optional: white birthday cake oreos

first thing's first: line your cupcake pan with the paper cups, and place a cookie in the bottom of each one...




we chose half regular chocolate oreos and half white oreos, just to switch it up and see what we liked better. 

next, place 10 cookies in a bag and crush them up, but not too much because you still want a few chunks. this you will then add into the dry cake mix...






next, prepare your cake mix as directed on the box!

mix mix mix...



after all is combined, the batter will look slightly gray in color, which is completely normal because your birthday cake is now infused with oreo flavor!
we added in a few extra cookie chunks, and of course more SPRINKLES...





after mixing in the sprinkles, it's time to fill the cups! i like using this cookie dough scooper/melon baller to fill them evenly and neatly.





...and into the oven they go!



baking times will vary, just follow the box directions. check at the shortest time. my oven bakes fast so it took about 15 min! [there is less cake to bake because of the cookies in the bottom]



let these beauties cool completely before decorating. can you see the cookies peeking out? yum!



add the sprinkles to the frosting and begin decorating!



be as creative as you like! if you have left over or broken cookies, garnish the tops with them! we decided there were plenty of cookies involved, and topped each cupcake with some rainbow sprinkles.

TA-DA!





...and that's really it! enjoy with ice cream if you think you can handle any more sugar. as mentioned, this recipe can be made as a cake as well! this cake will smell SO good, your neighbors will be able to smell it across the street. we recommend sharing with them.


ALSO, yesterday was the oreo's 102nd birthday, so let's dedicate this post to the oreo and say happy birthday!

happy baking and enjoy!

x's + o's
kaitlin elaine


thanks Bethany Olson for photographing and assisting! :)