Kids and other sweets junkies will love these these rich chocolate ice cream cupcakes: chocolate cake topped with cookies and cream ice cream, whipped cream, and an Oreo cookie. Make a big batch for a birthday party around the pool!

  • Yield: About 18 cupcakes
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Total: 1 hr 5 mins, plus about 3 hrs cooling time 
  • Active: 50 mins

Ingredients (17)

For the cupcakes:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1⁄4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1⁄2 cup canola oil
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 pints cookies and cream ice cream, slightly softened

For the whipped cream:

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 18 to 20 Oreo cookies

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 18 to 20 standard muffin pan with paper liners.
  2. To make the cake, sift the flour, cocoa, and baking powder into a bowl. Whisk in the sugar and salt. In another bowl, whisk together
  3. 3⁄4 cup warm water, the egg, oil, and vanilla until blended. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. The batter will be very thick. Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup, dividing it evenly. You should have 18 to 20. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan on a wire rack, then remove the muffin cups to the wire rack and let cool completely.
  4. Return the cupcakes to the cooled muffin pans. Put the ice cream in a bowl and stir with a large metal spoon to soften the ice cream until spreadable (make sure it doesn’t get overly soft and soupy). Drop a big spoonful of the ice cream over the top of each cupcake, filling the cup and spreading it in an even layer. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 2 hours.
  5. In a bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until medium-stiff peaks form.
  6. Pipe the whipped cream onto the cupcakes, top each with a cookie, and serve.