OREO Cookie Ball Game Day Cupcakes

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Score a touchdown on game day with this fun and delicious OREO Cookie Balls Game Day Cupcakes recipe! Recipe includes football-shaped OREO Cookie Balls atop a turf inspired cupcake.

Score a touchdown on game day with this fun and delicious OREO Cookie Balls Game Day Cupcakes recipe! Recipe includes football-shaped OREO Cookie Balls atop a turf inspired cupcake. #OREOCookieBalls #ad

So .... we finally know what teams will be playing in the big game on February 1st. Are you happy? Scrolling through my Facebook feed yesterday, it seems like a lot of my friends are! :)

I got a text message last night from my 18-year-old bragging about his beloved East Coast team. Just because I like to instigate a little bit of a rivalry, I had to do some trash-talking with him. To be honest, I don't care about the teams - I'll only be watching the big game for some more trash-talking fun and for the food. Obviously. Hehe!!

We were out and about on Saturday. We took the kiddos to the Phoenix Zoo and had a blast. On the way home, I wanted to make a quick stop at Walmart and pick some things up for dinner. I didn't get anything out to thaw since I wasn't exactly sure when we would be home. You know how it goes ... that trip for a few things for dinner becomes a shopping cart full of stuff! It happens more times than I would like to admit!

I passed this OREO display in the center aisle and noticed the OREO Cookie Balls recipe on the side of the display. You don't even have to tell me twice, two packages of OREO cookies go into the cart. I went with traditional OREO cookies this time. Since I knew there was a couple of games this past weekend, I wanted to make a fun treat inspired by the OREO Cookie Balls recipe. Football shaped OREO Cookie Balls seemed like an obvious choice - but I wanted to take it one step farther and use them as a cupcake topper. It's like getting two treats in one!

I had a hard time finding the size of candy mold that I wanted - and I already had these football sucker shaped molds on hand, so I went with it.

You're going to start by using just a little bit of white chocolate and painting the laces in the mold. Once those have dried (it doesn't take long!), you will need to cover the rest of the mold with the chocolate. You may need a couple of coats - I did 3 coats of chocolate and then went back and filled in spots that looked thin. I used a paint brush for food to make it easier.

Once the mold is coated in chocolate, it will need to harden before it can be filled with the OREO mixture. Press small amounts of the OREO mixture into the mold leaving just a bit of space to cover the top with more chocolate.

Refrigerate the OREO Cookie Ball footballs for about an hour. Carefully remove the cookie balls from the mold. If you're messy like me, you may need to trim off the stray pieces of chocolate from the edges. Use them atop your favorite cupcake recipe! I used chocolate for mine. I even tinted canned frosting and tried to pipe it to look like grass! You may have to use your imagination a bit! ;)

I also want to note, that you don't necessarily need the football mold to make this recipe. You can just as easily shaped the OREO mixture into football shapes, then dip them into the chocolate. Using a food-safe paintbrush, paint in the white laces!

Although this recipe does take a little bit of time, they were a big hit at our get-together yesterday! I hope you'll give them a try!

OREO Cookie Ball Game Day Cupcakes

by Jamie @ Love Bakes Good Cakes

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the COOKIE BALL RECIPE:

1 pkg (8 oz.) brick cream cheese, softened
36 OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 3 cups)
4 pkg. (4 oz. each) semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
3 tbsp. white chocolate chips, melted (optional)

For the CUPCAKES:

1 box (15.25 oz.) your favorite cake mix
Ingredients listed on box to make cupcakes
1 can white frosting
Green food gel

Instructions

(FOOTBALL MOLD VERSION) For the OREO Cookie Balls:

1. Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs until blended.

2. Use the white chocolate chips to "paint" the laces in your football mold. Allow to harden. Paint the footballs using the semi-sweet baking chocolate. You may need a few coats - let harden in between coats. Freeze 10-15 minutes or until hardened.

3. Press small amounts of the OREO mixture into the mold leaving just a bit of space to cover the top with more chocolate. Spread some of the melted chocolate over the top of the OREO mixture to seal the football.

4. Refrigerate the OREO Cookie Ball footballs for about an hour. Carefully remove the cookie balls from the mold. If you're messy like me, you may need to trim off the stray pieces of chocolate from the edges. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

(HAND-SHAPED VERSION) For the OREO Cookie balls:

1. Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs until blended.

2. Shape into 24 footballs. Freeze 10 min.

3. Dip footballs in melted chocolate; place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan.

4. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.

5. Using a food-safe paint brush, paint the laces onto the footballs using the white chocolate chips.

6. Refrigerate 10 minutes or until firm. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

For the cupcakes:

1. Prepare and bake cupcakes according to package directions. Allow to cool completely.

2. Using the green food gel, tint the frosting to the desired shade of green. Transfer the frosting to a zip-top bag. Seal the bag and snip a small piece off of the corner. Use frosting to pipe "grass" design onto the top of the cupcake.

3. When ready to serve, top each cupcake with one of the football-shaped OREO Cookie Balls.