Jack Skellington Oreo Cupcakes

Jack Skellington Oreo Cupcakes

Happy Halloween! I needed an excuse to buy Halloween Oreos (because they're by far the best flavor), so I've incorporated them into an Oreo cupcake inspired by Jack Skellington! These Oreo cupcakes taste exactly like Oreo cookies with Halloween Oreos crumbled into the batter and with Oreos hidden inside.

Bake up a batch and watch The Nightmare Before Christmas now that it's officially October! This is Halloween!

Servings: 12-16 Cupcakes

Prep Time: 1.5 Hours

Total Time: 4 Hours

Ingredients

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 egg whites
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons melted chocolate
1 package of Oreos

Vanilla Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Black icing color
Purple icing color

Instructions

Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prepare cupcake tins with 16 liners. Set aside.
Cupcakes: In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
Cupcakes: In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup of unsalted butter until smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes). Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar and beat until smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes). Add 2 egg whites and beat until white and fluffy (1-2 minutes). Add 1/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup milk. Melt 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips in the microwave in 20 second increments. Add to the batter. Beat until well-combined (2-3 minutes).
Cupcakes: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Cupcakes: Put 10-14 Oreo cookies in a food processor (or put in a plastic bag and crumble with a rolling pin) until you have 3/4 cup of crushed Oreos. Don't worry about removing the cream from inside the Oreos before crumbling - we left ours as is! Fold the crushed Oreos into the batter. If you would like, add black food coloring to the batter.
Cupcakes: In the bottom of each of the cupcake liners, put 1 Oreo. Put a spoonful of batter over the top of the Oreo. Put another Oreo on top, pressing down until it rests against the first Oreo. Cover the Oreo with just enough batter to cover the surface of the cookie. These cupcakes are easy to overfill because the Oreos take up so much space. As such, you may want to prepare 1/2 double Oreo and 1/2 with only one Oreo just to be on the safe side with your measurements!
Cupcakes: Bake for 5 minutes at 375°F. Lower the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
Buttercream: In a large bowl, beat 1 cup of unsalted butter on high speed until smooth and creamy (2-3 minutes). Add 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. Add 5 + 1/2 cups total of powdered sugar in increments.
Buttercream: Take out about 1/4 of the buttercream and set aside in a separate bowl. Dye the buttercream purple. Split the remaining 3/4 of the buttercream in two bowls. Dye one black and leave the other blue. Fill two piping bags with each of the frostings.
Buttercream: Place a large sheet of cling wrap down onto the counter. Pipe a line of black frosting, and then white frosting, over and and over until you have about 8 lines. Roll the cling wrap over the frosting until you get a cylinder. Place in the fridge for ~5 minutes before piping.
Assembly: Pipe a double donut of the black & white frosting on top of each of the cupcakes using a circular tip. Pipe a purple dollop of frosting onto the top using a star tip.
Assembly: Top each of the cupcakes with a Halloween Oreo.
Enjoy!