Cookies and Cream Cupcakes — Soft, fluffy chocolate cupcakes with Oreo frosting you’ll want to eat by the spoonful! Ready in under an hour, and perfect for birthdays, parties, and family gatherings!
Chocolate Cupcakes with Oreo Frosting
Recently my daughter celebrated her eighth birthday.
When I asked her what kind of treats she wanted to bring to school to celebrate with her classmates she said chocolate cupcakes.
Sounds easy enough, right? Not so much. Long gone are the days of bringing in a box of Twinkies, Ding Dongs, or even your average homemade chocolate chip cookies.
Everything requires teacher pre-approval and in my daughter’s small class, the teacher went down the line of the kids’ various dietary requirements: vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, peanut-free.
Making cupcakes without butter is easy because I think oil keeps them softer and moister anyway. But no eggs was new for me and I was worried about the texture and them being too dense and not fluffy enough.
I was pleasantly shocked when not only did the turn out, but they’re rich, wonderfully chocolaty, and the texture is incredible. Super soft, fluffy, light, springy, and perfectly moist.
Even if I don’t ‘need’ to make vegan cupcakes, this is my new go-to chocolate cupcake recipe because it’s fast, easy, and they tasted incredible.
You’re in luck if you ever happen to run out of milk, eggs, and butter all at once. Or have to make treats for a crowd with various dietary requirements. The recipe halves easily, too.
What’s in the Cookies and Cream Cupcakes?
To make the chocolate cupcakes, you’ll need:
- Milk (any kind)
- Apple cider vinegar
- Granulated sugar
- Oil
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking soda and baking powder
- Salt
To make the Oreo frosting, you’ll need:
- Butter, non-dairy butter, or shortening
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Oreos
How to Make Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
These accidentally vegan chocolate Oreo cupcakes come together like your typical cupcake recipe. No special ingredients or steps involved!
- Preheat oven to 350F and line two 12-count regular muffin pans with paper or foil liners.
- To a large bowl, add the milk, apple cider vinegar, stir, and set aside for about 5 minutes to curdle.
- While waiting for the milk, to a separate large bowl, add the sugar, oil, vanilla, and whisk a bit.
- Add the curdled milk to the sugar-oil mixture and whisk until smooth and combined; set aside.
- To a separate large bowl, add the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and whisk to combine.
- Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry, stirring until smooth and no large lumps remain.
- Turn batter out into prepared muffin pans, filling each cavity to about 3/4-full.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter, and are domed and springy to the touch.
- After cupcakes have cooled completely, they can be frosted.
Can This Recipe Be Halved?
Yes, very easily! If you only need 12 cupcakes, simply halve the ingredients and bake in a standard 12-cup cupcake pan.
Do I Use the Entire Oreo?
Yes! Use the whole Oreo (i.e. both the chocolate cookie and the cream filling). The whole thing is vegan, if that’s important to you.
Tips for the Best Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
- I made 22 Oreo cupcakes and you could probably get 24 from the batch if you fill them more shallow.
- Start checking the cupcakes at the 17-minute mark. All ovens and climates vary, and you don’t want to accidentally over bake the cupcakes.
- I used regular Oreos to make the Oreo frosting, but you can use Double Stuf or another flavor if desired.
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Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 2 cups milk, I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk, use any kind you'd like
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 1 cup butter, non-dairy butter or shortening (I used Earth Balance Sticks
- 3 to 3 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
- 24 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350F and line two 12-count regular muffin pans with paper or foil liners. I made 22 cupcakes and you could probably get 24 from the batch if you fill them more shallow; and the recipe halves easily if you need 11-12 cupcakes. Set pans aside.
- To a large bowl, add the milk, apple cider vinegar, stir, and set aside for about 5 minutes to curdle. It doesn’t get as thick as regular buttermilk and that’s okay.
- While waiting for the milk, to a separate large bowl, add the sugar, oil, vanilla, and whisk a bit. Mixture is thick and granular.
- Add the curdled milk to the sugar-oil mixture and whisk until smooth and combined; set aside.
- To a separate large bowl, add the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and whisk to combine.
- Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry, stirring until smooth and no large lumps remain. A few tiny lumps are okay. Don’t overmix because that can result in tough cupcakes.
- Turn batter out into prepared muffin pans, filling each cavity to about 3/4-full.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter, and are domed and springy to the touch. Start watching closely and checking at 17-18 minutes since all ovens and climates vary; don’t overbake which is easy to do with dark-colored items.
- Allow cupcakes to cool in pan for 5 to 10 minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
- After cupcakes have cooled completely they can be frosted.
Frosting
- To a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer), add the butter, confectioners’ sugar, and beat on low speed for about 2 minutes before increasing to high speed and beating for about 3 minutes, or until very light and fluffy; set aside.
- Roughly chop the Oreos. I chop by hand because I like some decent-sized pieces of Oreos rather than having them pulverized into crumbs which is what tends to happen all too quickly in the food processor.
- Add the Oreos to the frosting and mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 30 seconds.
- Frost each cupcake with a generous dollop of frosting. I used my 2-tablespoon cookie scoop but you can experiment with what works best.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Oreo Desserts:
Oreo Brownie Lush — A rich and decadent brownie pudding dessert made with fudgy brownies, cream cheese, chocolate pudding, whipped topping, and Oreo cookies!! EASY, great for parties, and it’s a chocoholic’s dream!!
Cookies and Cream Cake – Soft, tender cake loaded with chunks of Oreos in every bite with more Oreos on top!! Easy and a crowd favorite!!
The BEST French Silk Pie— This French silk pie is made with an Oreo cookie crust. The filling is a cross between chocolate mousse and chocolate cheesecake, and it’s so addicting!
Loaded M&M’s Oreo Bars — Stuffed to the max with M&M’s and Oreos! These Oreo cookie bars are an easy, no-mixer recipe that’s ready in 30 minutes. Always a hit at parties!
Death by Chocolate No-Bake Cheesecake Bars — Only for serious chocoholics because they’re rich, creamy, decadent, and loaded with chocolate!! NO-BAKE and an easy MAKE-AHEAD dessert!!
Oreo Cream Cheese Brownies — Fudgy brownies with a layer of cream cheese and tons of Oreos! They’ll be your new favorites!
Fudgy Mint Chocolate Brookies — Brownies meet cookies in these fudgy, soft and chewy, no-mixer bars loaded with mint Oreos!
Hello!
These cupcakes look amazing and a friend and I were going to make them for a bake sale.
I know you’ve said in an earlier comment that the apple cider vinegar is instrumental and there is probably no substitution, but I was wondering if another type of vinegar would do the trick? Like white or red wine vinegar? We don’t need these to be vegan, so would even eggs be ok? (If that’s a stupid question don’t mind me I don’t know much about the science of baking haha)
I just don’t want to buy a bottle of apple cider vinegar that I will probably won’t use up.
Thanks in advance :)
You can buys a small bottle of apple cider vinegar for about one dollar, two dollars max. I haven’t priced it per se because it’s so inexpensive that I really haven’t given it much thought but I know it’s darn cheap, all things considered. You could experiment with other types of vinegar but I haven’t so can’t say if they will work or not. Also for flavor, I don’t know how the other ones will taste since I’ve only tried with ACV.
Hello Averie,
These cupcakes look really yummy and I cannot wait to try the recipe. I was wondering if I can modify it by eliminating the chocolate? By not adding the chocolate, I am wondering if I need to change volumes of any of the other ingredients while still keeping it vegan.
I really have no idea how the recipe would work without the chocolate. It definitely won’t work the same – you’d have to trial things on your own.
Cupcake perfection!
What says birthday or social gathering greater than a tempting and delightfully decorated cupcake? Cupcakes are available a form of patterns, sizes, and sinfully scrumptious flavors. Some of the most up-to-date things individuals are doing with a chocolate cupcake recipe is developing cupcake muffins. A cupcake cake is a bunch of cupcakes grouped together to make a form. If you can give you a easy design, reminiscent of a number, you can make these incredible get together centerpieces yourself.
omigooooodness these cupcakes are amazing! first–I mean…cookies and cream frosting on a chocolate cupcake. 2nd-vegan and such too??! AMAZING. Pinning!
Thanks for pinning and all your sweet comments last night!
These cupcakes look heavenly! My kind of combo!
Baking for students is difficult these days! Looks Yummy!
Hi Averie! I am one of your closet fans who never leaves a comment but all your recipes leave me drooling – especially this frosting! Oh My Yummy! I have a borderline unhealthy obsession with oreos – can’t wait to make these! :)
Hi Jen, thanks for saying hi! I pin your stuff all the time and the fact that we’re both San Diegans and have never met is something we ought to change! I hope one day we are both at a local SoCal blogger event together!
And I just saw Nikki/Chef-In-T. make your lava cake recipe today and holy heck I need to make them now too!
LOVE these Averie!! Hope u are having a great weekend!
I hope you’re having a great one too! Not sure if you can still ski (it’s 80F in SoCal this weekend) but I hope you’re having fun whatever you’re up to :)
Recipe looks lovely, just wondering what I could substitute in for the apple cider vinegar? Thanks in advance!
Probably nothing in this particular recipe. It’s instrumental.
I found your blog because I searched “carmelitas” in google! haha! and now I’m OBSESSED WITH IT. I hope one day I can make every single one of your bar recipes!!!!! love love love!
Thank you :)
Happy belated birthday to your sweet daughter! She’s a girl after my own heart if she asked for chocolate cupcakes for her birthday. ;) I’ve heard that in my hometown, people aren’t allowed to bring homemade food to school for events anymore, including birthdays. Everything needs to come with a label and list of ingredients. It’s absurd! I’d totally smuggle in your cupcakes though… And if I got caught, then more for me!
My favorite chocolate cupcake recipe has no eggs and it blew my mind too! These look perfect, and that frosting – delightful. Oreo anything is great in my book. Happy birthday to her!!! :)
Right as you were having birthday week, no month :) for yours I made these. Even though I had to stretch myself to get these to work and come up with a viable solution, you had it WAY more intense than I did with like 20 bazillion activities going on :)
Averie,
These cupcakes look delicious. My niece eats gluten free and these would be perfect.
Annamaria
That’s one thing that this recipe still has in it…gluten. But you could likely use a GF baking blend and play around to keep them GF as well!
What a great mom you are! That frosting is making my mouth water!
That icing-YUM!