Oreo Red Velvet Cupcakes

Oreo Red Velvet Cupcakes. Fun, festive cupcakes for the most festive week of the year. Buttery, fluffy red velvet cupcakes baked on top of crunchy sweet, mint flavored (or classic) Oreos and generously frosted with sweet, slightly tangy White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing. Red and green red velvet and Oreo cupcakes anyone?!

NOTHING LIKE RED VELVET

I love that red velvet cake is undeniably easy to recognize both looks and taste wise. You can easily spot their rich red color and the combination of vanilla and cocoa powder gives them a unique taste.

This isn’t the first time I’ve made red velvet cake or cupcakes, but it’s the first recipe I wrote for it. I didn’t want to come up with one until I had a creative spin on it, since so many red velvet recipes already exist.

IDEAL FOR HOLIDAYS

Red velvet’s color makes it perfect for holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day. My aunt used to order red velvet from a bakery in New York City every Thanksgiving. They were delicious and always got me in the holiday spirit. These Cupcakes with Hearts in the Middle featuring red velvet hearts are one of my favorite treats for Valentine’s Day.

BAKING WITH OREOS

This is my second red velvet and Oreo recipe in a week! I snuck some Oreos in the middle of these Red Velvet Oreo Brownies last week! They were so good that I decided to keep the ball rolling with these cupcakes!

WHAT KIND OF OREOS CAN I USE?

Both mint and original Oreos work here! I went with mint this time since we’re just days from Christmas and I wanted that red and green combo. That said, my husband doesn’t like mint, so I made a couple with original Oreos for him. You can make these cupcakes using:

• ALL MINT OREOS
• ALL ORIGINAL OREOS
• SOME MINT AND SOME ORIGINAL OREOS (It’s as easy as placing the Oreos in the pan!)

CAN I MAKE THESE WITHOUT OREOS?

Yes! If you don’t want to add Oreos to some or all of these, you can just leave them out. You will have to add more batter to each cupcake though. Because you’ll be using more batter to take the place of the Oreos, you’ll end up with fewer than 18 cupcakes.

THESE RED VELVET CUPCAKES ARE:

• MOIST AND RICH: I usually bake with either butter or oil. These cupcakes are made with both. The oil makes and keeps them nice and moist and the butter adds richness.
• SOFT AND LIGHT
• SLIGHTLY CHOCOLATEY
• EASY TO MAKE: They look fancy, but couldn’t be easier to make.

WHAT’S IN THESE CUPCAKES?

• Flour: I find cake flour works best for red velvet, but I made this recipe with all purpose flour since many people typically don’t have cake flour in their pantries.
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
•  Salt
•  Cocoa powder: Unsweetened natural
• Unsalted butter: Room temperature
• Granulated sugar
• Light Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs: Large and room temperature
• Vanilla Extract
• White Vinegar
• Oil: Both vegetable or canola oil will work.
• Liquid Red Food Coloring: Add as much or as little as you like until you get to the shade of red you prefer. You can also omit the food coloring.
• Buttermilk: It might not be an ingredient you always have on hand, but there’s really no substitute for it, especially in this recipe.
• Oreos: Mint or original (optional)

TIPS FOR MAKING CUPCAKES

• SPOON DON’T SCOOP YOUR FLOUR: Spooning your flour into the measuring cup ensures you get the proper amount of flour. Dredging your measuring cup in the flour to scoop it out makes you end up with more flour than the recipe calls for.
• USE AN ICE CREAM SCOOP OR COOKIE SCOOP: Using a scoop to pour the batter into the cupcake liners is neater than spooning it in. Also, it helps to measure out the batter which results in more uniform sized cupcakes.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE ICING

I love cream cheese frosting on red velvet, so I went with that. Since it’s the holiday season, I added one additional ingredient: white chocolate! It has a butter-cream cheese base made extra sweet with powdered sugar and white chocolate.

Other delicious options for topping these cupcakes are this Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing and my Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

FROSTING THE CUPCAKES

PIPING IT ON

I used a star piping tip to pipe the frosting on my cupcakes. Because cream cheese icing is not as firm as buttercream, I put the frosting in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before piping. If you don’t have time to do so, I would recommend using an open tip (such as an Ateco 808 tip) over a start tip.

EASY OPTIONS FOR FROSTING THESE CUPCAKES

• With a Butter Knife: Keep it simple and frost them with a knife.
• With an Ice Cream Scoop: Just place a scoop of frosting right on top.
• With a Cookie Scoop: For a smaller amount of frosting than an ice cream scoop, use a cookie scoop.

DECORATING THE CUPCAKES

The signature red color and beautiful creamy frosting is definitely decoration enough for these beauties. That said, it’s always fun to add some finishing touches on cupcakes. Here are some suggestions for adding a little bit more decoration to your cupcakes:

• An Oreo Cookie: Stick a whole or a half an Oreo in the frosting.
• Oreo Crumbs: Pulse a few Oreos in the food processor or place them in a zip lock bag and hit them with a rolling pin. Sprinkle them over the frosting.
• Red Velvet Crumbs: I sprinkled my Cupcakes with Hearts in the Middle with crumbs from one cupcake. They were gorgeous!

If you are making these festive, delicious Oreo Red Velvet Cupcakes for a special occasion, I hope it’s an amazing day! If you are not making them for a special occasion, I’m sure their beautiful color and incredibly good flavor will brighten your day. They’re buttery, fluffy and moist. The Oreos add a crunchy, delicious surprise inside the cupcakes and the luscious white chocolate cream cheese frosting makes the perfect topping!

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