Oreo cupcakes and cookies and cream brownies

Ok, so bad news bears. I've been so busy, that I've hardly baked or cooked anything. I've hardly done any tri training either. Basically, I've been a huge failure while I'm working my little booty off. However, I did quit one of my jobs!! Yay! No more coffee discounts tho :-(   It's probably for the best.

I also got to ride my BRAND NEW tri bike. Actually, its old, but its new to me. And its FRICKIN SWEET! And crazy fast. Basically, I love it. Except the seat, which clearly was chosen for lightness, not comfort (my poor tush!). So I took it out for a couple of spins Friday and Saturday with some non-Race team Fraser friends. It was great! A little tip tho: 1. Tandem bikes are GREAT for drafting, but 2. they can really haul on flats and downhills, so be prepared to grind some gears.

I did squeak out a batch of really really good oreo cupcakes.They are basically crunched up oreos held together by a minimal amount of cupcake, and some really great frosting. Lifeguards and bike mechanics really enjoyed them. However, I did not get any pictures, so I have to refer you to the website I got them. Oreo cupcakes  This recipe requires a whole package of regular stuffed oreos. I made the cupcakes, then crushed up all the cookies left over (which didn't have frosting on them) and mixed them into the frosting recipe to make cookies 'n cream frosting. Basically wonderful.

My basically wonderful cookies 'n cream frosting left me with a whole lot of leftover frosting. So, since I didn't get any pictures of my cupcakes, and since I was pretty much eating frosting out of the fridge and getting fat, I decided to make some yummy yummy cookies 'n cream brownies for my lifeguards, again. I know, I know, you're thinking I'm gonna make the lifeguards fat. In actuality, the club severely cut down on what and how much the guards can eat, so they're pretty much starving.

 They were truly glorious brownies. I used this brownie recipe from my baking Yoda, Smitten Kitchen. Then I added some chopped up cookies 'n cream Hershey's bars instead of the nuts. I don't like white chocolate, but I like nuts in my desserts even less. Man, was this brownie recipe good. I think it's my all time fav homemade brownies recipe. The brownies had a little bit of cakeyness to them, but were so very fudgy in the centers, with a light flakey crust. Sooooo good. Then of course I frosted them with my cookies 'n cream frosting, which was still insanely delicious. The result: Mind Blowing Cookies 'n Cream Brownies. Watch out, these brownies are very bad for you, unless of course you eat one after a run or bike :-)