For a sweet celebratory treat, dish up these crowd pleasing Gluten Free Cookies n’ Cream Cupcakes. There’s a cookie surprise at the bottom of every delectable vanilla cupcake!
It’s amazing sometimes watching children eat. They are like ravenous beasts with bottomless pits for stomachs. Some days it feels like I am in the kitchen all day long, finally cleaning up one snack, just to find my other child begging for some food.
Occasionally I can ward off their requests by telling them they have to pick a fruit or veggie for a snack. In fact, that is my rule most often. If they just have the munchies, and aren’t really that hungry, the fruit/veggie rule usually turns them off.
But, if they’ve eaten a substantial lunch and have had a relatively active day, I’ll let Braelyn pour herself a bowl of cereal after school or let Emry pop herself a bag of popcorn after an afternoon play date. Not the fruit/veggie snack, but still a healthy wholesome, wholegrain alternative to something processed and packaged.
BUT…I am going to admit, there are those times, few and far between, where a treat after school just seems necessary. Actually, today was one of those days. Braelyn got two healthy mini banana muffins topped with a miniature scoop of chocolate ice cream. Some days you just gotta break all the rules. It may not be healthy for the tummy, but it sure is healthy for the soul.
Here is the problem with breaking the rules 1% of the time; your kids ask for it 100% of the time.
In fact, this is Braelyn’s issue in general. She is such a quick witted child that if you don’t follow through every single time, she will push everything to the limit with the hope that one time you will cave. And people, I am talking about EVERYTHING!!!
“Mom, can I watch TV???”
“Mom, can I sit in the front seat???”
“Mom, can I play with your phone???”
“Mom, can I take my shoes off at church???”
“Mom, can I eat candy for breakfast???”
“Mom, can I have a play date today???”
“Mom, can I spray the hose???”
It NEVER ends. She must think that I have a one word vocabulary: NOOOOOO!!!
I always tease Ben because he tends to be slightly less consistent than myself, which means Braelyn tests his patience about 50 times more than mine. I just sit back and chuckle under my breath knowing that it’s his own dang fault.
Plus, he sets himself up for even greater failure by proceeding all of his disciplinary phrases with, “Mom says…” I keep telling him that by saying those words, it takes all the power away from him and gives it to me. The girls don’t see him as an authority figure when they think I’m making all the rules.
And after the day to day grind of your children pushing your buttons and your wife mocking your parenting skills…all you feel like doing is stuffing your face with cookies. Oreos to be exact. Those are Ben’s drug of choice.
Oreos are like crack to him. They calm his nerves, enhance his mood, and seem to make everything…better.
Thus, one day I dropped the beasty wife act and made him these…
…glorious Gluten Free Cookies n’ Cream Cupcakes! He liked me for a moment.
You know who else really enjoyed these cupcakes??? Braelyn!!!
She doesn’t ever get Oreos because they’re full of gluten. Glutino makes a similar cookie, but she hardly ever eats those either because I rarely buy prepackaged goodies. So when she saw an entire package of chocolate sandwich cookies on the counter, she thought she’d died and gone to heaven. And then when she discovered I was going to put an entire cookie at the bottom of the cupcakes I was baking, plus another half on top, she almost had a panic attack.
Then I told her she could only eat half a cupcake at a time and she was back to her normal self. Bahahaha! I’m such a mean mom.
These cupcakes perfectly embody the essence of cookies n’ cream. They have a full on cookie at the bottom, a vividly vanilla cake in the middle, and a ultra creamy buttercream frosting on top with chocolate sandwich cookies folded in. And to make them even sweeter and obviously prettier, I drizzled some melted chocolate on top and stuck another 1/2 a sandwich cookie in the frosting.
Sweet heart attack right there!
My favorite part about this dessert is the frosting. It’s a basic vanilla buttercream, but then you fold in finely smashed cookies. The cream from the center of the cookies mixes with the frosting and makes this intensely creamy and sickeningly (in a good way) sweet frosting. It’s so good, it’s bad. Well, not too bad if you only eat half. Muah ha ha!
But here’s the upside. When you make dessert that should only be consumed in halves, it forces you to make friends by sharing. No need to thank me.
Or you could choose to break all the rules, push all buttons, and disobey all the laws of nature and eat the whole dang thing!!! But you know what??? Every once in a while that’s okay. Go ahead, give yourself a break.
How do you get your Oreo fix?
- For the cake:
- 2 sticks butter, room temperature
- 1⅔ cup organic cane sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ⅔ cup superfine white rice flour
- ⅔ cup potato starch
- ½ cup brown rice flour
- ½ cup sweet sorghum flour
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¾ cup milk (I used 1%)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 36 gluten free chocolate sandwich cookies similar to Oreos
- For the frosting:
- 1½ stick butter, room temperature
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 4 gluten free chocolate sandwich cookies, finely crushed
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners. Place a cookie in the bottom of each cupcake liner (there should be 24). Set aside.
- Begin making cake batter. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Add vanilla and almond extract and mix until incorporated.
- In a smaller mixing bowl, sift together white rice flour, potato starch, brown rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum.
- Alternately add milk and dry ingredients to wet batter, mixing until smooth in between each addition. Add the sour cream and mix on low until well incorporated.
- Fill cupcake liners with batter ¾ way full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes* or until tops of cupcakes spring back at the touch of a finger and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean with few crumbs. Remove from oven and carefully transfer cupcakes to cooling rack. Cool completely.
- While cupcakes are cooling, make frosting. In a large bowl, beat butter until pale and smooth. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add an additional cup of powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add vanilla, dash of salt, and milk and mix until incorporated. Add 2 more cups of sugar and mix until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar if needed to thicken consistency. Fold in crushed cookies with a spatula.
- Once cupcakes are completely cooled, pipe with frosting and top with half of a chocolate sandwich cookie.
Do you ever use a GF Flour mix in your recipes?
I do with some of my recipes. I’ve used Cup 4 Cup and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour with decent results. I’ve also used Pamela’s brand all-purpose flour and Namaste. I don’t mind using these flours in cookies or brownies, or other desserts with a “chew”. However, for cakes, muffins, and quick breads where I want a more tender crumb with a lighter texture, I find that the pre-made blends are a bit dense or chewy. Some people can’t really tell the difference, but I’m just overly picky. Haha! You can definitely sub an all purpose flour for my combination of flours. It will work just fine!
And if you do sub an all purpose flour, check to see if it has xanthan gum. If it does, don’t add any extra. If it doesn’t, add the amount that I specify in the recipe. Good luck!