Oreo Cupcakes

I saw this recipe on Pinterest & made them the same night I was making stuffed peppers.  I've decided that I need more counter space and a double oven... in my rented apartment.  While I don't have the money or ability to have a double oven, I had to improvise by cooking the peppers in the boys' apartment upstairs.  Consequently, I was running around between apartments, cleaning up the dirty dishes & cooking millions of things at once.  My point in all of this is that the pictures are lacking because I was a crazy busy person while I was cooking & cleaning ;)

The title of this blog is "Grate Expectations... with the possibility of epic failure."  In my opinion, this was a failure -- not "epic" but a failure nonetheless.  That being said, some of my friends have eaten several cupcakes and have enjoyed them so I suppose you can be the judge.  I thought they were wayy too sweet.  And quite honestly, had wayy to many steps to be worth it!

Ingredients:
24 Oreos, halved (with cream filling) -- I got VERY good at twisting!
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 2/3 cup sugar (probably why they tasted so sweet!)
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreos chopped in fairly big pieces
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 c. confectioners' sugar
1 tbsp. heavy cream
Oreo cookie crumbs (because crazy people like to garnish their cupcakes at 11:45 PM when they're finishing cooking)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners -- seriously, how cute are these?!

Place one of the Oreo halves with cream filling in the bottom of the cupcake liners.  I'll tell ya what, the surprise Oreo crust is a fan favorite!

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder & salt & mix together with a fork.
In a large bowl combine the butter & sugar and beat until light & fluffy.  Blend in the egg whites one at a time.  Make sure to scrape the edges of the bowl between each egg addition.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  Beat in half of the dry ingredients.  Add the milk & beat in the rest of the dry ingredients until just combined.  Gently fold in the oreos to the batter.

Bet you believe me now that there are too many steps!

Fill the cupcakes about 3/4 of the way & bake for about 20 minutes.  You should be able to insert a toothpick into the center & have it come out clean.  Let them sit in the pan for about 5 minutes between moving to a wire rack.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter and beat on high for 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  Beat in the confectioners' sugar & blend until smooth.  Add the heavy cream & blend until combined.  Then increase the speed  & whip for 2-3 minutes.

Frost the cupcakes & sprinkle the crumbled Oreos on top.  I also garnished them with the leftover cookies that had been halved to make the surprise Oreo crust.

While they look tasty, I don't really think they're worth the time -- they do LOOK good though!