Cupcakes and a Giveaway!

Everyone loves cupcakes! Right?! You know you do! A friend of mine over at The Hot Pink Polka- Dot even turned them into an AMAZING birthday theme for her beautiful one year old. And because Rachel got so excited, she's a crafty gal, she has put together a cupcake party pack for a giveaway. CUTE, CUTE, CUTE! Visit her site, tell her I sent you, and register to win! Can't wait to hear if one of you wins that adorable pack! In the meantime, here is a yummy recipe she posted from the party. Get cooking, gals!

 

OREO CUPCAKES
Ingredients

1 Package of Oreos
1 Package of Mini Oreos
1 Box white cake mix
1 Cup of water
1/3 Cup of oil
3 Eggs
8 Ounces Cream cheese, at room temperature
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 Tbsp Vanilla extract
4 Cups Confectioners sugar, sifted
2 Tbsp Heavy cream


Directions

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners. Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up. In a medium bowl, combine the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs. In a plastic bag, place the unused halves of the oreo cookies you placed in the liners. Using a rolling pin, crush the Oreos. Gently fold in the 3/4 of the crushed Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix. {Reserve the remaining portion of crushed Oreos for the frosting.}

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla extract. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes. Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Gently fold in the remaining crushed Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated. Frost the cooled cupcakes and garnish with a mini Oreo.

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Sounds yummy, huh?! Rachel also has three other cupcake recipes on her blog and great pictures so you can see how to do a cupcake party with style! Let me know which ones you try and which one you like best!