Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

I had the pleasure of spending Labor Day weekend at my father's house outside Philadelphia. The trees were nice and plush, and nights were still warm, reminding you that summer was almost over but God is doing you a favor -- so you should sip wine outside long after the sun goes down and thank Him for the life he's given you.

Baking has been a way I show thanks (and love) to those around me. That weekend, my stepsister Gillian hosted a party for her high school friends. I naturally became the sneak chaperone -- someone old enough to keep an eye on things objectively, but young enough to not be a buzzkill (hurrah! I've reached the sweet spot.) As part of the party prep, I accompanied my dad to Wal-Mart to buy snacks en masse -- but moreover, as I was looking for an excuse (ahem, hungry audience) to bake delicious treats -- I decided to whip up these Oreo cupcakes (lightened up a bit.) With the help of my baby sister, Christina, these were a smash hit -- and I don't think the teens cared or knew that they were reduced-fat! HOLLA! Big sister for the win!

Do I spy a little helper?

Servings: about 24 cupcakes

What you'll need:

• Any Vanilla cake mix (I used Pillsbury French Vanilla)
• Eggs (required by cake mix)
• Water (required by cake mix)
• Plain Unsweetened Applesauce (the same amount that the cake mix is asking for, for oil!)
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips
• 8 oreos for chopping
• 1 tub of Vanilla Frosting
• 12 oreos for blending
• Oven/Cupcake Pan
• Optional: Blender/Cupcake Papers

The Step-by-Step:

1. Preheat oven to the degree asked for on the cake mix box, and place cupcake papers into the cupcake pan (if you don't have papers, no worries -- just spray each cupcake hole with cooking spray -- make sure you get the sides of the holes too!)
2. In a mixing bowl, mix the cake mix with the required water and eggs (can do egg whites if you want! so maybe if its asking for 3 eggs, put 2 egg whites and 1 full egg.)
3. Instead of oil, mix in applesauce and mini chips! (more on the applesauce later)
4. With a knife, roughly chop 8 Oreos into pieces, and add the pieces into the batter. Stir well.
5. Pour the batter into the cupcake papers (only 2/3 of the way -- don't fill each paper to the top) and bake for the time it says on the box.
6. While baking, roughly chop 12 more Oreos. Place the Oreo pieces into a blender. 
7. Pulse until the Oreo's are a fine powder -- (it'll look like dirt!) If you don't have a blender, put the chopped Oreo's in a Ziploc bag, seal it, put it in another Ziploc bag, put it on the floor, and jump on it. Go to town!
8. Pour the Oreo "powder" into a bowl, and scoop the frosting right on top. Stir together until well combined.
9. With a spoon, scoop the Oreo frosting into a Ziploc bag.
10. When the cupcakes have finished baking, let them cool for an hour.
11. After the cupcakes have cooled, hold Ziploc and squeeze all the frosting towards a bottom corner with your hands. With a scissors, snip the corner off (not too far up!)
12. With the corner snipped off, you can squeeze the Oreo frosting onto the cupcakes (I used a circular motion for the picture above.)
13. Party!

What a teenage dream.
xoxo n

Wait.... Applesauce?

Did you know Applesauce is a substitute for oil in baking? 

Did you know that when Applesauce is baked, you can't taste it? 

Did you know that oil is fat -- and apples are not? 

Did you know that apples are already sweet naturally, so you don't need to buy sweetened applesauce? Now you know!

Shoutout to my friend Katy for getting this right on Instagram! :)