Egg Free Cookies & Cream Oreo Cupcakes

I've mashed up two recipes again to make some egg-free allergy friendly cookies and cream cupcakes. The cookies and cream element comes from my all time favourite (and egg free!) cookie, the Oreo. My recipe inspiration this week comes from The Art of Dessert's Chocolate Cupcake, Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Buttercream and Bakerella's Cookies and Cream Cupcake.

Egg Free Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups plain flour 

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda/bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 tsp. honey

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325/160 degrees. Line muffin pans with baking cups (again a great job for toddlers!). Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, combine milk, butter, honey and vanilla extract. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry mixture. You could add dry to wet if you prefer but I just had the dry in a big bowl and wet in a small bowl so that worked best for me! Stir until combined.  

Scoop the batter into the lined muffin pan to 2/3 full. I used a 2 cookie scoops per liner, but I think I'd use one heaped scoop next time. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. 

While the cupcakes cool make the buttercream; you will need:

Cookies and Cream Buttercream

250g of salted butter (don't get the cheap stuff you want nice butter)

6-8 cups of icing/powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup of whole mix

5 oreo cookies, turned into fine crumbs (plus extra to decorate)

Combine softened butter, 4 cups of the sugar, vanilla and milk until well combined. Add more sugar, slowly, until you reach your desired consistency which should be thick but not stiff. You may not need all the sugar. Now add in your cookie crumbs (I stick mine in a food processor to get them fine).

Once cupcakes are cooled, put frosting into a piping bag and swirl on top before finishing with half an Oreo cookie. Blondie Boy inhaled a cupcake in literally about 30 seconds so I think they get his seal of approval!