Oreo cupcakes...oh my!

So, Sunday was my bestie's engagement party, so of course I volunteered to bring dessert! Being that Oreo cupcakes are the Conway's favorite thing I have made so far, it was  no brainer what to bake! These cupcakes are one of my favorite to make as well, because they are SO good and fun to make!
Here's what you will need:
- 24 Oreo halves (with the cream filling attached)
- 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. of baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. of salt
- 8 tbsp. of unsalted butter, at room temp.
- 1 2/3 cups of sugar
- 3 large egg whites, at room temp.
- 2 tsp. of vanilla extract
- 1 cup of milk
- about 20 Oreo's roughly chopped ( in quarters is good)
- 8 oz. (one package) of cream cheese at room temp.
- 6 tbsp. of butter, at room temp.
- 1 tbsp. pf vanilla extract
- 4 cups of confectioner's (powdered) sugar
- a dash of milk
- Oreo crumbs

  First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, line the walls of your cupcake pans and place an Oreo halve in each with the cream side up. Keep the other halves of the Oreos to use as a garnish later on. In a medium bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside. In a large bowl combine the butter and sugar. Beat on med-high until light and fluffy, around 2 minutes. Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract. Slowly mix in half of the flour mixture until just incorporated. Add the milk, until combined, then mix in the rest of the dry ingredients. After everything is incorporated, fold in the chopped oreos. To chop my Oreos, I put them in a large Ziploc bag and rolled a rolling pin over them. When adding the Oreos, be careful not to over mix!

Evenly distribute the batter between the cupcake liners and place in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. I like to rotate my pans in between so they all cook evenly. Allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack too cool completely before frosting.

While waiting for these bad boys to cool, you can get started on the frosting! First combine the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer on med-high until smooth and creamy. Blend in the vanilla extract, then blend in the powdered sugar (slowly or you'll get sugar everywhere) until smooth. Add a splash of milk, or heavy cream and whip on high speed for 3-4 minutes. Make sure and scrape the side of the bowl so everything gets incorporated.

Then you can frost and decorate your cupcakes however you want. I iced mine then garnished them with cookie crumbs!

The cupcakes were a huge hit at Emily and Conway's engagement party! Hopefully they come out perfect for you too!

By the way, sorry it took forever to post the recipe! LJ has been a handful! My little boy is getting so big and crazy!!! I'll leave you all with a picture of him to smile at:)

XOXO
<3Kay