Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes

This post only gets live-action shots because the cupcakes were devoured too quickly. I've made these once before and they were a hit both times. This time I brought them to a reunion weekend with my best girlfriends from high school to my friend Kayleigh's beauuuutiful camp in Canada. After a rough summer of working and taking classes, this weekend was AMAZING and I cherished every moment of it.

It was my friend Ali's birthday, so I brought 24 of these cupcakes with me. I know everyone likes cupcakes, but Ali really reallyyy likes cupcakes. Have you ever seen someone cry over wanting a cupcake so bad? Apparently that can happen, and has happened to Ali. Maybe even more than once. Anyway, we could never have a birthday celebration for her without cupcakes, and with the gourmet chocolate cake Ali brought from home, we were all well-fed throughout the weekend.

For me, my favorite parts about food blogging and cooking in general are the stories behind each recipe and who you share it with. Being able to escape the city for a weekend and spend time with my best friends was the real treat, these cupcakes were just dessert. :)

Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes (Cake Recipe from Hershey's)
Makes: 24 cupcakes  Prep: 15 minutes  Total: 40 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water
24 Oreos, plus more for garnish
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in eggs, then add milk, oil and vanilla and mix well. Add 1 cup boiling water (batter will be very thin) and pour into cupcake tins. Drop a whole Oreo cookie into each cupcake tin and top with excess batter or push down to cover. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out dry.
To make frosting, beat together softened butter and vanilla until creamy. Mix in powdered sugar in 3 parts. Microwave chocolate chips in 30-second increments and stir until melted and add to frosting. Mix well and pipe onto cooled cupcakes.