Oreo Cupcakes

Black cocoa has been on my wish list for some time. It's the magic ingredient for those perfectly dark Oreo cookies, and the key to a beautifully black cake. What's not to love about a bigger, fluffier version of an Oreo?!

What I didn't realize at first, though, is that it's also the main ingredient for that trademark Oreo flavor. There's a slight bitterness to very dark chocolates, and it balances out the sweetness to create the Oreo flavor.

Black cocoa is really beautiful, too, like dirt from another planet or something.

I combined the flour, white and brown sugars, baking powder, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl and stirred it to combine. The result was a mysterious, ashy colored powder. To give this some extra chocolaty flavor, I grated some baking chocolate and tossed it in.

Next, I added in the melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract and beat the mixture for 2 minutes on medium speed.

Once mixed, I added one cup of boiling water, resulting in a thin batter. I spooned it into cupcake papers and baked them for about 20 minutes. Look at these beauties!

I kept the frosting simple, using a buttercream topped with crushed Oreos. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Perfection! Why did I wait so long to get black cocoa? Let's not focus on the past. Let's look forward. The cake even tasted like a cakey Oreo. This Perfect Cake Recipe really is a great one. The vanilla frosting contrasted well with the chocolate cake, and the crumbled Oreos really did the trick. Coming soon: my own Oreos.

Oreo Cupcakes Recipe

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup black cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 ounces grated chocolate
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon almond milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 Oreo cookies, crushed

Instructions:

To make the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir together flour, sugar, baking cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and grated chocolate in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla, then beat on medium for about 2 minutes. Stir in hot coffee, then spoon into cupcake papers. Bake 18-22 minutes, until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

For the frosting, beat butter for 3-5 minutes, until fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar and cocoa powder, mixing between additions. Add almond milk and almond extract and beat until well combined. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.

adapted from perfect chocolate cake