MSC: Cookies and Cream

My schedule is hectic. My homework is out my butt. Volleyball is 24/7. But I had to bake these=)

(This post will be a short one. My apologies!)

I started by making a fourth of the recipe. This wasn't too hard with a recipe calling for four eggs, 16 oz cream cheese, and other numbers easily divisible by 4. The ingredients themselves are few. And since I had Oreo's left over from the ice cream I made, I knew it was fate.


There's a small twist to them though. I did not have cream cheese on hand. GASP. How could I call it fate to make mini cheesecakes whenever I didn't even have cream cheese on hand?! Because I had just-about-to-go-bad mascarpone cheese on hand. Duhhhh. I guess I was feeling crazy in the kitchen! I also went ahead and left off the tops of the Oreos that I placed on the bottom of each cupcake. I used to tops as the crushed up Oreo for the cheesecake part. A wise choice, I might add.


Okay verdict time: The mascarpone cheese was a definite hit! There was a slight difference in taste but not a bad one at all! It was tough waiting for these to cool. So I had to eat one warm. Not too bad actually=)


Photographing cheesecakes is odd. I'm terrible at photographing food as is, so this was a tricky one. Maybe one of these days I'll learn a thing or two about taking pictures of my food. Until then, trust in my mediocre pictures and know that these beauties were extremely delicious. So delicious, in fact, that eating five of the 6 in one day is in no way a bad thing;)

Oreo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

With my recent motivation to figure what kind of food allergies I have, I've been trying to avoid certain foods. As of late, it has been wheat. Avoiding wheat takes a lot out of your diet. So this has lead me to compensate in other areas. Namely ice cream. Dairy Queen blizzards to be specific. After having a week's worth of blizzards, my wallets running low, (and surprisingly I never get tired of having them!) But, being the baker I am, I began to guilt myself as I knew I could be making these at home.


My favorite blizzard has to be the regular Oreo. They also have an Oreo cookie jar flavor, which is Oreo bits AND cookie dough bits. So actually that might be my favorite. Another good one is their caramel turtle pecan. So good. But I wanted to recreate these at home since I'm in love with my ice cream maker. First up: Oreo! Duhhhhh.


I found an eggless vanilla ice cream recipe (I am so lazy) and then added largely chopped Oreos in at the end. Two things: 1) I should have made a custard base (see next paragraph), 2) I should have made some smaller pieces as well instead of quarter pieces. After seeing the large pieces in it, I wanted to start crushing some up for smaller bits, but my dad stopped me. I don't know why I decided to cater to him, but he wanted the pieces big enough so he could pick them out. RUDE.


I always love eating the ice cream while it's churning. I think that's when it tastes best! For this specific ice cream, it gave me an indicator of what my ice cream would taste like. In this case, chilled whipped cream. I joke not. It was a big batch of fluffy slightly chilled whipped cream. It was so bizarre! I realized that by not making a custard base I would be missing out on the traditional taste, but really, this was intense whipped cream. My mom is a whipped cream fanatic and my dad, surprisingly, loved it as well. But I just couldn't get over the fact that it was "whipped" cream and not "ice" cream.


However.... after proper freezing, this ice cream tasted just fine and I demolished it quickly! I made the Oreo pieces pretty big and I'd have to say this was a huge success. I quite liked this and no need to spend money on blizzards every night! And with the left over Oreos I hope to have another treat to share with you guys!

Oreo Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
from here

1 c whole milk
2 c heavy cream
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Oreos (I think the amount is very subjective)

Whisk together milk and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Pour on heavy cream and vanilla. Add to ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturers directions.

Add in Oreo pieces when the churning is done and enjoy immediately for soft serve, or freeze.

Oreo Cupcakes

So umm... can we not talk about these? Really, I'm not sure I want to. I'll maybe just so you some mediocre pictures and let them do the talking, kay?

Alright so I guess I'll say something. My good ole friend Maria came over to bake, yet again. Cupcakes were chosen. Of the Oreo variety. I mentioned I'd made an incredible Cookies N' Cream cupcake awhile ago, and would love to make them again since I only made four the first time (silly me!). A different recipe was chosen, however, since I had forgotten cake mix was involved in the recipe, and we don't really keep that around when you have a baker like me=) (However I will say those cupcakes I made using the cake mix were pretty bomb. Shh...)

A lovely article about Eclipse in the paper.

I'll cut to the chase here. Oreo Overload. Okay, so we used the whole box for these cupcakes. Not such a good idea. I mean, they were crazayzay oreo-d out. And the even bigger mistake............... I left them in too long. This is a first for me, well actually a second. I have a certain system with my cupcakes, which I cannot reveal because it is super top secret. But this day I screwed the system and got burnt, literally. Well, okay so they weren't burnt, or anywhere close, (well kinda), but they weren't my signature style. I really let myself down and was ashamed to give them to neighbors. But we had SO many leftovers that I was forced to.

Next time, HALF the amount of Oreos I used and pull them out at the correct time. No need to second guess yourself, Sherry... So I won't say I was crazy about these. Oh, but I did find them best eaten when they were chilled.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

from: Annie's Eats

Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

For the frosting:
8 oz. 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

For garnish:
Oreo cookie crumbs
24 Oreo cookie halves

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 flour, baking powder and salt; stir together with a fork to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

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.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.

Cookies N' Cream Cupcakes

My sister got her wisdom teeth taken out today at 21 years old. Ouch... My mom said she would be "baby-ing" her a lot because she'll be in a ton of pain. For her, getting her wisdom teeth taken out is extra painful. She's had many surgeries in her lifetime around her jaw and mouth. So that means liquefied foods, smoothies, ice cream, and such. One of her all time favorites the Oreo milkshake my mom makes. She only makes it at special times since Oreos have trans fat and are pretty unhealthy. (Although now I believe Oreos don't have trans fat) But we never have Oreos in the house. So when I saw them I knew I had to jump at a chance to bake with them.

What to make?.....

Cupcakes! If you had to think about the answer to this for longer than a few seconds, then you obviously don't know me ha ha. So I went searching for a recipe and decided to cut it down to only make four.

The recipe has like five ingredients is is amazingly simple. It does use a box mix, which I am no way a fan of, but I happened to have white cake mix laying around from forever ago.

The verdit? Wowowow. No wonder this recipe is used all over. It's incredible. The crumb is so light you swear you were eating air. But delicious and filling and tastey air;-)

Cookies N' Cream Cupcakes
adapted from here

Ingredients: (The measurements are for four cupcakes onnly!)
1/4 of a 18.5 oz box of cake mix
1/2 egg
1/16 sour cream, plain yogurt or greek yogurt (I used greek yogurt)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup or less crushed up oreos

Combine the cake mix, 1/2 egg, greek yogurt (or other), and water. Then fold in the crushed oreos.

Grease four muffin tins, or use liners. Greasing worked out fine for me without the use of liners.

Bake for about 15 minutes. Give or take two minutes.

Allow to cool.

Cookies N' Cream Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients: (I eyeballed these he he)
3-4 oz cream cheese
4 tablespoons butter
2 or more cups powdered sugar
3 crushed up oreos

Combine.