Cookies and Cream Cupcakes and an account of The Cupcake Tragedy of 2011

It's happened, friends. My precious baby girl is gone all the day long. I had a fairly major 36 hour breakdown, but I'm improving with each day. (Other than the times when I have such realizations that she will likely miss wedding dress shopping with my mom and sister and I, or if I happen to drive by the park. Or the library. Or McDonalds. Or if I walk by her empty bedroom.)

The first day of school I decided to make her (me) something special for an after-school snack. I had been thinking a great deal about some Cookies and Cream Cupcakes I had seen on a great food blog, annies-eats.com. Since Dylan and I are both quite fanatical about Oreos, I decided on those.
I spent the afternoon baking them up, and when she got home we tried them. The first bite was completely delicious...followed by a strange aftertaste. I wondered if maybe the Oreo didn't really go with cream cheese, until Dylan said, "Uh...these are gross. I think it's the frosting." I tried several tastes of the frosting alone, and realized it was indeed the source of the slight grossness. I couldn't come to terms with what I knew to be true, until Josh came home and sampled the frosting and declared, "Um, that's MOLD. IT'S MOLDY!" I have since come to the conclusion that the cream cheese I used was most likely leftover from a wedding cake I did several days ago, and I probably left it out too long while I was working. So I was left with 22 perfect-looking moldy frosting cupcakes. Perhaps the most sad part of the story is that I kept trying to eat them throughout the next day, hoping I might not notice the taste. I've never claimed to be normal.
I was desperate to make them again, but I kept telling myself I really had no business baking 2 dozen cupcakes in my state of pant size, but I was eventually able to compromise with myself on just 1 dozen-a half batch. After all, I've just lost my best girl to days full of school work and potentially mean children.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Makes 24


For the cupcakes:
24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached (use a knife instead of twisting them)
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped (I quarter them)

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 cups powdered sugar

For garnish:

Oreo cookie crumbs
24 Oreo cookie halves (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners.  Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.  Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Whip frosting for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.  Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.