A delicious Oreo cupcake filled with a creamy Oreo white chocolate ganache, topped with Oreo Italian Meringue buttercream and topped with a fun shark fin-shaped Oreo cookie.
Some links in this post may be affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
A little while ago, my son’s best friend’s mom asked me if I would make cupcakes for her son’s shark-themed birthday party. I’ll accept any excuse to bake for other people so I immediately agreed, and because I’m the kind of person who loves to go all out for a birthday party (at least as far as baking goes) I offered to make a few flavours. The birthday boy chose Cookies ‘n’ Cream, Moon Mist, and S’mores, so I developed three cupcake recipes that combine a cake, a filling, a frosting, and a shark fin-shaped cookie topper to go with each flavour.
These Cookies ‘n’ Cream cupcakes are perfect for anyone who loves Oreo recipes! The chocolate cake is full of Oreo chunks, and each cupcake is filled with a while chocolate ganache filling that uses the centers of Oreo cookies, and topped with a deliciously creamy rich Italian meringue frosting full of Oreo cookie crumbs.
Jump To:
Why You’ll Love Cookies ‘n’ Cream Shark Cupcakes
- They’re packed with Oreos. If you or anyone in your family loves Oreos, you’ll love this recipe. The cupcake batter has chunks of Oreos mixed into it, the frosting is full of Oreo cookie crumbs, and the cupcake is topped with a homemade Oreo cookie topper.
Tips for Success
- Let the meringue for the buttercream frosting cool completely to room temperature before you add the butter, to prevent it from becoming a soupy mess. Add the butter to the whipping meringue about a tablespoon at a time, letting each piece incorporate before adding the next.
Prefer to Watch Instead of Read?
FAQ
How long do Cookies ‘n’ Cream cupcakes last?
Eat within a few hours of baking, and store leftovers in the fridge to eat within 2–3 days.
Can I freeze Cookies ‘n’ Cream cupcakes?
You can freeze the plain unfilled and un-decorated cupcakes for up to 3 months.
Can I make this gluten-free?
Yes, just swap out a gluten free all-purpose flour replacer such as Cup4Cup wherever all-purpose flour is called for.
Can I make this dairy free?
Yes, swap out a vegan butter or margarine anywhere butter is called for, and a dairy free milk such as oat or soy wherever milk is called for. For the ganache filling, use cashew or coconut cream instead of heavy cream, and a vegan white chocolate. Oreos are already vegan and dairy-free, so no need to swap anything there!
Can I make this egg free?
Use a vegan egg replacer for the cookies and cake, and look for a vegan Swiss meringue buttercream recipe as the base for the buttercream frosting.
Can I make this vegan?
Yes, see my notes above for making this recipe dairy & egg free. Make sure you use vegan granulated sugar (surprisingly, most granulated sugar is not strictly vegan!)
Cookies & Cream Shark Cupcakes
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 3350˚F (175˚C). Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Separate the cream and cookies of 16 Oreo cookies. Roughly chop up the cookies, and reserve the cream centers to use in the creamy Oreo ganache.
- To a medium bowl, add 185 g all-purpose flour, ¼ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda and ½ tsp fine sea salt. Whisk to combine.
- Add 50 g Dutch-process cocoa powder to a small heat-proof bowl. Pour ⅓ cup boiling water over the cocoa powder and whisk to form a smooth paste. Set aside.
- To a large bowl, add 60 g melted unsalted butter, ⅓ cup neutral-flavoured oil, ¾ cup buttermilk, 2 large eggs and the cocoa paste. Whisk until smoothly combined. Add 220 g granulated sugar and whisk again. Add the dry ingredients and fold in. Add the chopped Oreos and fold in until evenly distributed.
- Divide the batter among the 12 lined muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 30 minutes).
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Line a baking sheet with a perforated baking mat, silicone baking mat, or sheet of parchment paper.
- Sift together 80 g all-purpose flour with 18 g Dutch-process cocoa powder into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl if you will be using a hand mixer. Add 57 g unsalted butter, 50 g granulated sugar, 28 g corn syrup, ¼ tsp baking soda and a pinch fine sea salt. Mix on low just to combine, then increase the mixer speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the dry ingredients and mix on low to combine.
- Dust your work surface with cocoa powder. Roll the dough to about ⅛" thick. Use a circular cutter about 2-3" in diameter to cut pairs of overlapping circles to make crescent moon shapes. Use a knife to cut across the crescent moons to make shark fin shapes.
- Arrange the cookies on the baking sheet leaving 1" space between them. Bake until firm and dry, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Roughly chop 100 g white chocolate and place in a medium heat-proof and microwave safe bowl, along with 16 Oreo cookie centers.
- Bring 100 g heavy (whipping) cream to a simmer, and pour over the chocolate and Oreo centers. Leave for 1-2 minutes to allow the chocolate to melt, then whisk until smooth. White chocolate can be difficult to melt into ganache, if it's still chunky just microwave it for 15-30 seconds and whisk again. Cover with plastic wrap until completely cool. When you're ready to assemble and decorate the cupcakes, transfer the ganache to a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip.
- Add 345 g granulated sugar and ½ cup water to a small saucepan. Make sure you don't have any stray sugar granules clinging to the sides of the pan, or the sugar syrup could crystallize.
- While the sugar is heating, add 5 large eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, and begin whipping on medium low speed. Clip a candy thermometer to the saucepan and as soon as it reaches 230˚F (110˚C), crank the mixer speed up to medium high. You're aiming for the eggs to be light and fluffy and at least doubled in volume by the time the sugar syrup reaches 250˚F (121˚C).
- As soon as the sugar reaches 250˚F (121˚C), carefully pour it in a steady stream into the running mixer. Aim to pour between the side of the mixer bowl and the moving whisk—if the sugar syrup hits the side of the bowl it could stick there and solidify, but if it hits the moving whisk you could get hit with hot sugar syrup. Once all of the sugar syrup has been added, keep mixing on medium high until the side of the bowl no longer feels warm.
- Add 1 tsp vanilla extract, and begin adding 570 g unsalted butter one roughly tablespoon-sized chunk at a time. After all the butter has been added, keep whipping for another few minutes until light and fluffy. If at any time the buttercream seems soupy, just rub a gel ice pack on the side of the mixer bowl to help firm the butter up. Add 100 g Oreo crumbs and mix until combined. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with an extra large star tip.
- Remove the center from a cupcake using a cupcake coring tool or an extra large piping tip. Fill the cavity with some creamy Oreo ganache, then pipe a couple large swirls of Oreo buttercream. Sprinkle on some blue sanding sugar or sprinkles if you like, then nestle in an Oreo shark fin cookie.
Leave a Reply