Lately, my husband has been getting me into a bit of trouble.
You see, he’s my taste tester. He’s not afraid to tell me when something I make is awful (it has happened before… believe me!), so I know he’ll give me an honest opinion. So, when I’m baking and working on a new recipe, I often take him a plate of samples.
A few times lately (including yesterday when I was working on this particular recipe), he has raved on Facebook about what I made for him. I’m thrilled when my recipes turn out well, and I’m always glad that he’s happy with his afternoon snack. But, I wind up with a whole group of jealous friends, neighbors, and relatives who want to know why I didn’t make homemade oreos (or cinnamon rolls, brownies, muffins… ) for them. It’s a bit of a dilemma!
In this case, the homemade oreos that my hubby was taunting his friends with on Facebook were already spoken for… Most of the cookies were destined for the cafe at our church. But, of course, I had set aside a few extras for my hubby. Then it hit me… I had a solution to my problem! I just reminded him that if anyone wanted samples of the treats, they would have to come out of his snacking stash. My guess is he won’t be sharing my baking secrets on Facebook anymore!
These homemade oreos are easy to make. They are based on my recipe for vanilla bean sugar cookies. By adding dutch process cocoa, they have the dark chocolatey flavor of oreos. Paired with a quick vanilla buttercream filling, I happen to think they are better than the originals. Of course, if you’re friends with my hubby on Facebook, you already knew that.
Homemade Oreos
(Makes approximately 3 dozen)
For the cookies:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons half and half
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 3 – 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, whisked to remove any lumps
Begin by preparing the cookies. Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl, and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well incorporated.
Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture, beating on the lowest speed. Continue to mix on the lowest setting until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.
Divide the dough in half, and shape into two discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
When the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat. Set aside.
Taking only one portion of dough out of the refrigerator at a time, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough to 1/8 – 1/4-inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter (approximately 2 inches in diameter) to cut out cookies and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies are cooled, prepare the filling. Combine the softened butter, half and half, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined. The mixture may be a bit lumpy, but will come together. Add the powdered sugar gradually, approximately 1/2 cup at a time, until the filling comes together. It will be slightly stiffer than a cupcake frosting.
Transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe the filling onto half of the cookies, and top with the remaining cookies to form cookie sandwiches.
I am so excited to try these! I have recently discovered that I am allergic to canola oil, and have been searching in vain for a good homemade Oreo recipe. I can’t wait for this weekend, so I can whip up a batch.
I think you can replace canola oil easily with most any other easy to find oil, like corn oil for example. Don’t let this stop you from backing the things you love :)
Can i use safflower oil?
Absolutely! It is a much healthier replacement for canola.
Where can you by the Dutch process cocoa powder? I looked at giant eagle and all they had was Hershey cocoa powder. Would that work?
Hi, Rachel – I typically buy it online or from specialty stores… You can use the Hershey’s cocoa powder, but the cookies won’t be quite as dark. If you can find the Hershey’s Special Dark powder, that will work much better. I have made the recipe with that, and it does work well.
I buy it at winco, a bulk foods store. It’s only a few cents a pound! Maybe there’s something similar near you?:)
I like to use light olive oil for baking, no olive flavor, and so healthy!
Are these crunchy?
Melody,
I made these yesterday for a friend of mine’s christmas present and so long as you roll out the dough a little thicker then you’re going to get soft cookies. If you roll it thinner then you’re going to get crunchy cookies. But they were really good regardless. I used heavy cream for the frosting instead of half and half.
Melody, I made them as directed but only baked them for 8 minutes. This resulted in a softer cookie, but still sturdy enough to hold together. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you so much for creating this recipe! My kids love Oreos and I don’t buy them due to all the processed chemicals they contain. I’m definitely making these this weekend.
Why make homemade oreos? because we can!!!In the process of making these now. The cookie part is done and delish. On to the filling. Thank you!
Your recipe seems really good but not so easy for french people. For example, what is “dutch process cocoa powder” ? And half and half ? Thank you for your answer and for your blog.
Hi, Frenchy – Dutch process cocoa powder is a dark cocoa powder, but any cocoa powder will do. Half and half is simply half cream, half whole milk, which is available here… You can simply substitute cream.
what is half and half? can you buy a can of it in the store?
Hi, Tara – Half and half is a dairy product made of half cream and half whole milk… You may find a carton of it in the dairy section of your local market… If not, you could substitute either milk or cream in this recipe.
We like vanilla Oreos. If I leave out the chocolate would I need to add anything?
Hi, Cathy – I haven’t tried making the recipe without the chocolate. You may need to add a bit more flour to account for the lack of cocoa powder. Otherwise, you may also want to add a bit more vanilla extract.
Just wondering if the cookies stay crunchy after they’ve been made into sandwiches or does the filling soften them?
Can’t wait to try the recipe!
Hi, Lori – If you bake the cookies for an extra minute or two, they will stay crunchy for a while… I haven’t tried keeping them too long, though. I think the most they have ever lasted at my house was 2-3 days. :)
Do you think there is a way to make the cream filling with almond milk or coconut milk?
Hi, Erica – I do not typically work with almond milk or coconut milk. If your goal is to make the filling dairy free, you could use shortening in place of the butter and probably substitute either coconut milk or almond milk for the half and half in the recipe. Just add it in small amounts, adding only enough to get the texture you want in the filling.
thanks so much for this recipe. My hubby LOVED these! It will be added to our cookie short list.
My daughter and I have traditionally been baking this very cookie for years.Except,we make the filling with an addition of pure peppermint extract and we only make them at Christmas. However,you have inspired me to bake them for Valentines Day. I Love your website! Everything looks Delish.
Hello,
I wanted to package these and ship them for a valentines present for an oreo lover. do u think they would maintain their texture after a few days in a tupperware, shipped cross country?
Hi, Emma – If you are shipping them, I would recommend making the frosting with shortening instead of butter. I haven’t tried keeping the cookies this long, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be OK. I’d bake the cookies an extra minute or two if you want them to be nice and crisp. Hope that helps!
These are basically thinner and less filled Whoopie Pies. Anyone who wants a drop type, thicker cookie can google Whoopie pie. I’m not a big fan of rolling and cutting dough for cookies. Thanks for this recipe.
I made these cookies just yesterday, I was craving Oreo cookies and trying to save money by making them myself, since I had everything on hand. I liked your recipe because I was in search of cookies as close to the real thing as possible and these cookies seemed to have that cracker/cookie consistency. I was especially looking for a cookie that could soak up the milk the way an Oreo does.
So the verdict is: While they did not soak up milk, they were really good, the dough had a nice chocolaty flavor, the filling was nice, though I didn’t need quite so much Confectioner’s sugar as called for in the recipe. I also sifted the Confectioner’s sugar to remove the lumps, and added vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract so it has little specks of vanilla in it.
I’ve already recommended this recipe, nice work!
Are these freezable? My wedding is in June and want to start making some cookies that are freezable ASAP.
Hi, Chelsea – Yes, you can freeze them. However, for best results, I would freeze the cookie portion only and make the frosting when you are ready to serve them. I am not sure how the cookie and frosting would thaw out together and the cookies might get soggy.
Thanks so much!
These look sandy enough, but a real kicker is that original peeps are vegan!! Not the BEST choice, but if you could find a way to effectively modify this recipe….wonderful!
Sorry,dandy,not Sandy.
I think we’ve all had eniugh of that :)
I made these with 1/2 butter and 1/2 applesauce and they turned out awsome!! Still crunchy just like store bought. Thanks for the recipe!
I have these half made, waiting to be filled….all I can say so far is that is some if the best cookie dough I have ever had…..let alone the baked cookies! I may never buy another Oreo….
Is it OK to use salted butter?
Hi, Patty – Yes, you can use salted butter… You may just want to cut back on the salt in the recipe so the cookies aren’t too salty!
How do you think they would turn out with just regular unsweetened cocoa powder?
Hi, Tamara – I think they’d be great! They might not be quite as dark in flavor/color, but they will still be chocolatey and delicious!
My dough is super hard to roll out (actually it’s hard as a rock) after chilling it in the fridge. Could it be to cold? Oooooooh I hope I didn’t ruin these amazing cookies!! They are sitting out on counter now to “thaw”
Hi, Ashley – Yes, depending on the temperature of your fridge, it may have just gotten too cold. Let it sit on the counter for a while and see how it goes. Hope the cookies were delicious!
Would they need to be sweetened anymore? Or is the dutch process cocoa unsweetened as well?
These look and sound amazingly good! Great post!!!
How do you store these? Fridge or counter?
Hi, Trisha – I store mine on the counter… But, if you’re concerned about the butter or half-and-half in the filling, you could certainly keep them in the fridge.
Hiya! I baked those delicious cookies yesterday and everybody loves it! I just made too much filling so now the rest is waiting for eating in the fridge but the cookies are really cool! I posted a link to your recipe on my new blog: http://crafty-lapinka.blogspot.cz/2013/04/homemade-oreos.html, I hope you won’t mind.
Thank you! :))
I made this recipe last night and it came out AWESOME & DELICIOUS!!! my family loved it though i made the cookies without the filling i loved that its not so sweet and you can taste the chocolate. this recipe is definitely a KEEPER. thanks for the amazing recipe Jen.
Hi I was wondering does the cocoa powder have to be sweetened or unsweetened??
Hi, Daseyra – The cocoa powder should be unsweetened.
Anyone try making these gluten free?
I just made these today and they turned out great! The only problem I had was that the dough cracked, crumbled, and fell apart a little. Did I have too much flour and too little butter? But I still menaged to work it out and they’re delicious! Somehow too much of the filling came out but it easily disappeared because it was so good! It didn’t have an oreo taste though. Regardless I might be making them again!
I made these cookies and they turned up AMAZING! My only issue is I’ve been told it was too sweet. How can I modify the recipe in order to fix it?
Hi, Dana – I’d probably start with the filling… Try using a bit less powdered sugar? You could also cut back on the sugar in the actual cookies a bit, but it may change the texture slightly, too. Hope that helps!
These look so good. I love the heart shaped ones. Perfect for lunches:)
These are amazing! Just made these and loving how they taste!
Hi there :) This recipe sounds pretty good and the reviews are great, I just have one question. Could you please post this recipe using the metric system (grams and ml)? Thank you so much :)
Can you substitute almond flour for regular flour in homemade Oreos?
Hi, Mary – I imagine that it would be possible. However, I have not tried making the homemade Oreos with almond flour, so I’m not exactly sure how they would turn out. I imagine (based on my limited experience with gluten-free baking) that you would need to add some other ingredients (such as xanthan gum) to achieve the right texture.
So excited to find this recipe! I have always loved the Oreo cookie, but hated the filling. :) My oldest child is a die-hard Oreo fan, too, so this is going to get a lot of play in my recipe rotation. :) :) :)
These are amazing! I love the consistency of the cookie. I used whole wheat flour instead of white flour; the cocoa powder covers up the taste of the wheat flour perfectly.
However, I did have a problem with the filling. It was way too thin and runny. I double checked my measurements (all were correct) and used almost 4 cups of powdered sugar hoping it would thicken. Maybe I should use a little less half and half?
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hi, Rebecca – I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies… Sorry to hear that the filling didn’t turn out well for you. My guess is that your butter was too warm/soft. You could definitely use less half and half. I generally make the frosting and then add just enough half and half to achieve the right texture. The amount needed can vary. Hope that helps!
Came out great, thanks for sharing!
if your dough is crumbly after you take it out of the fridge, what I did was kneaded it a little and added a little water then put it back in the fridge for 5 minutes, took it out, and started rolling it with the plastic wrap still on. Then took that off and put a sheet of plastic wrap over it. For some reason it keeps the dough together