These fluffy Cookies and Cream Cupcakes made with a shortcut feature chocolate cookie pieces and crumbs in the batter and frosted with vanilla buttercream.
These cookies and cream cupcakes are basically Oreo cookie cupcakes. They contain Oreo cookies and Oreo crumbs for the best distinct flavor. If you love Oreo cookies, you will also love my recipes for Cookies & Cream Brownies, Oreo Cream Pie, and Nutella Oreo Cheesecake Bars!
This is a pretty special recipe. I developed this cupcake recipe in anticipation of baking them for my brother's wedding in March of 2020. Over a few months, test after test found many not-quite-there results; not enough cookies & cream flavour, not moist enough, not fluffy enough, too salty even.
I also had to develop a cupcake that would stay moist and delicious until the day of, considering the fact that I would be baking the cupcakes 2 days ahead and they would have to be stored in the refrigerator due to food safety requirements.
Finally, my 6th test batch came out PERFECT! Flavorful, moist, fluffy, not too salty, cupcake perfection! And they passed the test: still delightfully moist even after being stored for 2 days in the refrigerator. Success!
Now, all that was left to do was the final execution on the cupcake baking day! At least that's what I thought... Unfortunately the big wedding was cancelled because, ahem... lets just say most March 2020 weddings didn't really go as planned. Oh well, they still got married and I still got a pretty good cupcake recipe out of it all. My family still loves these cupcakes for special occasions!
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⭐️ Why You Need to Make This Recipe
- Texture - Buttermilk, vanilla pudding mix, and real butter make these cupcakes extra tender and moist for days yet fluffy and light in texture.
- Flavor - Made with lots of real butter and flavorful Oreo crumbs and cookie pieces, these cupcakes have a distinct richness and satisfying flavor.
- Method - The shortcut of using boxed vanilla cake mix gives you a headstart on rich vanilla flavor, provides optimal texture, and requires fewer individual ingredients to make these delicious cupcakes.
🧈 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed to make these Oreo cupcakes.
Ingredient Notes
- French Vanilla Cake Mix - This recipe was tested with a 375-gram box of Betty Crocker French Vanilla cake mix.
- Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix - Pudding mix provides extra flavor and helps make the cupcakes moist and tender in texture.
- Oreo Cookies - We will chop up whole Oreo cookies (with the icing filling inside) into rough pieces to add to the batter for texture and flavor.
- Oreo Crumbs - You can buy pre-crushed Oreo crumbs or crush up Oreo cookies (without filling) using a food processor to add to the batter.
- Unsalted Butter - It is very important to use unsalted butter. The cake mix contains salt so the cupcakes will turn out too salty if you use salted butter in the batter.
- Buttermilk - Buttermilk is great for making fluffy and tender cupcakes.
See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients with measurements.
📃 Instructions
Step 1: In a large bowl, whisk together the cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, baking powder, cookie crumbs, and chopped cookies.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted unsalted butter, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk until smooth.
Step 3: Add the combined wet ingredients to the bowl of combined dry ingredients and stir just until no streaks of flour remain. Do not overmix!
Step 4: Fill each cupcake liner in a cupcake pan half full with batter, 30 cupcake liners in total. Bake in a preheated oven for 13-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling while you make the frosting.
Step 5: Begin creaming together the softened unsalted butter, salt, and vanilla on high speed until smooth. Add 4 - 4 ½ cups of powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add 3-4 tablespoons of milk and mix on high speed until fluffy and smooth.
Step 6: Pipe onto the fully cooled cupcakes and top with additional chopped cookies if desired.
💡 Top Tip
Fold ½ cup of crushed Oreo cookies (without the icing filling) into the frosting if you would like cookies and cream buttercream on the cupcakes.
❓ Recipe FAQs
I used a Wilton
These cupcakes will stay fresh if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or at room temperature for up to 3 days. Take out 1-2 hours before serving to allow the frosting to soften slightly if stored in the refrigerator.
These cupcakes can be made a full 2 days before you plan to serve them if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Take them out of the refrigerator 1-2 hours before serving to allow the frosting to soften a bit before serving.
This recipe has not been tested with anything other than cake mix so I do not know what you would need to substitute.
🧁 More Cupcake Recipes
Looking for more delicious cupcake recipes for any event? Try these:
If you tried these Oreo Cupcakes or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and write a little note telling me how it went in the comments below. Thank you!!
📖 Recipe
Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Equipment
- 12-count muffin tin(s)
- cupcake liners
- mixing bowl
- measuring cups & spoons
- silicone spatula
- electric handheld mixer
- piping bag fitted with your desired tip (I used a Wilton 6B for the cupcakes pictured but I also love a Wilton 1M)
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 375 grams boxed french vanilla cake mix (I use Betty Crocker)
- 6 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix (dry powder)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup chocolate cookie crumbs (ground-up cookies without the icing)
- 12 whole chocolate sandwich cookies chopped with the icing filling
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
- 4 whole eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cups buttermilk
For Cookies & Cream Buttercream OR Plain Vanilla Buttercream:
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
- 4- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)
Instructions
To make the Cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line muffin tin(s) with cupcake liners or grease with non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, baking powder, chocolate cookie crumbs, and chopped sandwich cookies.
- In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Add to the dry ingredients and stir just until fully incorporated, being careful not to overmix.
- Fill each cupcake liner half full with batter. Bake cupcakes in the preheated oven for 13-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling completely before frosting. Bake the remaining cupcakes.
To make the Buttercream Frosting:
- In a large bowl, cream together the room-temperature butter and vanilla using an electric handheld mixer on medium-high speed. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing on low between each addition. Add milk, starting with 2 tablespoons, and beat the frosting on high speed until fluffy. If making cookies and cream buttercream, fold in ½ cup of chocolate cookie crumbs at this point.
- Frost the fully cooled cupcakes using a piping bag fitted with your desired tip. Note: I have found using a piping tip with a bigger opening works better for the cookies & cream frosting as the cookie crumbs might get stuck in a smaller piping tip.
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