Oreo Cupcakes - There's no such thing as too much chocolate

A friend of mine just left for a huge trip around Asia... Bye Damo!!

This happens to be the friend who is constantly giving me cupcake requests (the mastermind behind the maple bacon and cookie dough ideas) so to send him off I thought it was only fitting to bake him one of the recipes he had so kindly provided for me to bake for him at some point.
This particular recipe was for Oreo Cupcakes.

I scanned through the recipe and loved the idea but wanted to create my own. I used a recipe for chocolate cupcakes that I had made before, crushed half a pack of Oreos and added it to the mixture.
I then made a cream cheese icing and once again crushed half a pack of Oreos and added it to the mix. To just make sure there was enough Oreo involved I also put one mini Oreo as a garnish on each cupcake.

They went down a treat. Within a hour if my opening the box, all 15 cupcakes had been devoured. Some people going back for seconds and thirds. They were so delicious. The recipe has been marked with a large smiley face and will be definitely placed in the archives for multiple future uses. I have added it below for you to try if you're ever in need of an easy, tasty cupcake!

Oreo Cupcakes:

Makes 18

1 1/2 cups (215g) plain flour
1 tsp bi-carb soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (125ml) hot water
1/2 cup (50g) cocoa powder
1/2 cup (125ml) cold water
100g butter
1 1/4 cup (280g) caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 packet regular Oreo cookies
1 packet mini Oreo cookies
icing:
225g cream cheese - room temperature
1/2 packet of regular Oreo cookies
225g butter
3 3/4 cups (500g) icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius

Sift together flour, bi-carb soda, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl whisk together cocoa and hot water to form a paste. Add the cold water and whisk to combine.

In a mixer, cream the butter until light. Add the caster sugar and eggs, beating until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract.

Add half of the flour mixture to the mixer and beat on a low speed until combined. Add half of the cocoa paste and combine once again. Repeat this step for remainder of flour and cocoa mixes. Be careful not to beat too well or it may become toughened.

Crush half a pack of Oreos roughly. Add this to the mixture and combine.

Fill cupcake papers to only half full as they will rise. I use an ice-cream scoop to ensure they come out nice and smooth. Bake for 20-25 mins until a skewer comes out with crumbs sticking.
Cool in the cupcake tray before transferring to a cooling rack, helps keep their shape.

For the icing;
Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the vanilla. Slowly add the icing sugar and mix well. Crush the half packet of Oreos and add them to the mixture.

Ice cupcakes. Place one mini Oreo on each for a cute garnish.

Voila!

If you have any questions or feedback, please don't hesitate...