Oreo Sunflower Cupcakes Recipes

OREO CUPCAKES WITH COOKIES AND CREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners., In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Fold in crushed cookies., Fill prepared cups three-fourths full. Bake 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. , In a large bowl, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, milk and vanilla; beat until smooth. Fold in cookie crumbs. Pipe or spread frosting over cupcakes. If desired, sprinkle with additional cookie crumbs and garnish with mini Oreo cookies.

OREO SUNFLOWER CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350. Line 33 muffin cups with paper liners, then place one Oreo in the bottom of each. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Place remaining full size Oreos in a ziplock bag and smash them, or drop them in the food processor or blender to make large crumbs and small chunks. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Add the eggs to butter/sugar one at a time, beating after each addition, followed by adding the vanilla.
• Alternate adding the flour mixture with adding milk (2-3 additions for each) until the batter is all combined. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add reserved crumbled Oreos.
• Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. I use a cookie scoop to get this done evenly. Smooth them out a bit. It won't rise very much, and the batter won't settle smooth totally on its own.
• Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool completely on a wire rack.
• Frosting:
• Beat 2 cups softened butter with the whisk attachment until smooth and fluffy.
• Slowly add powdered sugar a scoop at a time until it's all incorporated.
• Add milk and vanilla. Whip until light, fluffy and fully combined.
• To Decorate:
• Divide frosting into 3 portions, 2 larger than the third (think peace sign proportions). Tint one large portion grassy green with gel food coloring, one large portion medium yellow, and the smaller portion darker green. I used about 1/4 tsp color for each.
• Fit a 16 inch piping bag with a large coupler and tip 233. Fill with grassy green colored frosting. Pipe little dabs over entire tops of cupcakes to resemble grass, a quick squeeze/let go gives tapered bits.
• Place one mini Oreo in the center of each cupcake to be the sunflower's center. Press down into the "grass" to adhere.
• Fit a regular coupler and a leaf tip such as 368 on a 12 inch piping bag. Fill with darker green frosting. To pipe leaves, place the bag at about a 45 degree angle close to the mini Oreo center. The V cutout should face the Oreo vertically, like a bird's beak getting ready to take a nibble. Squeeze, pull away and release pressure to create a leaf. Add 3 or so to each cupcake around the Oreo.
• Fit a large coupler and leaf tip on a 16 inch piping bag. Fill with the yellow frosting. To pipe the sunflower's petals use the same motion as for leaves, only make them smaller. Circle each Oreo completely in petals, then add a smaller second row of petals on top of that one.

MARTHA'S SUNFLOWER CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Cupcakes:Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center. Line two standard muffin tins with 18 cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in vanilla seeds. Add eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Reduce speed to low; gradually add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating until combined after each addition.
• Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed and a tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 16 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• Buttercream:Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a mixer set over (not in) a pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved, and mixture is warm to the touch and feels completely smooth when rubbed between fingertips.
• Transfer bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue whisking until mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), 6 to 8 minutes.
• Reduce speed to medium-low and add butter a few tablespoons at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Switch to paddle attachment and beat on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula; continue beating until frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using same day. If not, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
• Reserve 1/2 cup buttercream. Tint remaining buttercream yellow, adding food color a drop at a time until desired color is reached. If necessary, use reserved buttercream to lighten color.
• Transfer buttercream to a pastry bag fitted with a small leaf tip (such as Wilton #70). Pipe a row of slightly overlapping petals around the edge of a cupcake. Pipe a second row of petals, overlapping previous petals. Repeat piping process, overlapping petals slightly and creating 2 to 3 more rows of petals. Pipe a small amount of frosting in center of cupcake; cover with sunflower seeds. Repeat with remaining cupcakes. Decorated cupcakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 6 hours; bring to room temperature before serving.