September 29, 2022
updated
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The perfect homemade oreo recipe made for dunking in milk, just like everyone’s favorite chocolate sandwich cookie!
This recipe checks all the boxes for that crisp chocolate cookie that tastes great with that thick vanilla cream center we all love!
Easy Homemade Oreos
Recreating the infamous creme-filled sandwich cookies is easier than you’d guess, and this recipe makes my family happy down to the last bite!
The cookie part has the right amount of cocoa and a perfectly crisp texture that pairs with the creamy vanilla center- all you need is a glass of milk (or non-dairy alternative), and you’re set.
Homemade Oreo Ingredients
Let’s take a look in the pantry and fridge for these items:
- Butter: some goes into the cookie dough and the rest for the filling.
- Sugar: white granulated sugar is essential for these cookies.
- Salt: enhances the butter and cocoa flavors.
- Egg: just one to help the cookies hold together.
- All-purpose flour: regular white flour is all you need.
- Dark cocoa powder: Dutch processed, but you can also use regular unsweetened cocoa powder, notes on this later.
- Baking soda: helps the cookies rise a little.
- Vanilla extract: makes chocolate desserts taste better.
- Powdered sugar: gives the filling that thick-whipped texture.
As always, check the recipe card at the end of this post for the ingredient measurements and detailed baking directions.
Regular Cocoa or Dark Cocoa
These cookies can be made with regular cocoa or Dutch-processed, but there will be a difference in flavor and texture based on which option you select.
Cooked made with Dutch-processed (dark cocoa powder) result in a richer cocoa flavor and darker color, while regular Hershey’s cocoa powder tastes milder and has lighter color.
How to Make Oreos
There is a science to achieving a great homemade version of Oreos, but all the figuring is done for you.
Just use the correct ingredient amounts and follow the step-by-step directions below.
- Start the dough
Use a hand or stand mixer to cream the butter, white sugar, and salt until fluffy. Add the egg and mix to combine. - Sift the dry ingredients
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix to form a dough. - Square up
Place a large piece of plastic wrap onto a flat surface and transfer the dough on top. Shape it into a ball or square, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. - Prep
Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. - Roll it out
Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Place half the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out. Use a small round cutter to cut out as many cookies as possible. - Repeat
Re-roll any scraps to cut out additional cookies, and repeat the process above with the remaining dough half. - Bake
Place the cookies onto the lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely. - Make the filling
While the cookies bake, cream the softened butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl until fluffy. - Double stuff
Spread a cooled cool with a generous scoop of the creme filling and sandwich it with another cookie. Repeat with remaining filling and cookies.
All that’s left is to pour yourself a well-deserved cup of coffee or milk, and enjoy a homemade oreo or two!
Are Homemade Oreos Healthy?
This homemade oreo recipe is certainly made with real and simple ingredients, but it’s not necessarily meant to be lower in fat or sugar. The goal is to make a cookie with ingredients we can easily identify and pronounce.
If you need a gluten and dairy-free version of this oreo recipe, try this one!
How Many Calories are in a Homemade Oreo
Each homemade oreo has 110 calories and is slightly larger than your standard store-bought cookie. If you ask me, every bite of this homemade recipe is worth every calorie and even a second cookie!
How to Make-Ahead Oreos
To make these cookies ahead, you can store the cooled and unfilled cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The filling can also be prepared and refrigerated for up to a month!
When you’re ready to assemble, let the filling come to room temperature before filling the cookies; otherwise, hard icing on a crunchy cookie will result in a crumbled mess.
Can You Freeze Homemade Oreos
I don’t recommend freezing the baked and assembled homemade oreos only because they don’t freeze well. Plus, this recipe yields only 20 cookies, which we all know will quickly disappear based on how much everyone loves the originals.
Homemade Oreos
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
For the filling:
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Make the cookies:
- In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter with the white sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until fully incorporated.
- In another bowl, sieve the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Mix to combine well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix with a spatula together until combined.
- Place a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter and transfer the dough on top. With your hands, form a dough ball or square. Wrap it with the plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 325˚F (160˚C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the fridge, and with a knife, divide the dough ball into 2 pieces. Return the other half, wrapped, to the fridge to keep chilled while you roll and cut out the first batch of cookies.
- Place half of the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it to ¼-inch (½-cm) thickness.
- Using a small round cookie cutter (of 1 ½ to 2 inches in diameter), cut out as many cookies as you can and place them directly on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Pack together and re-roll out any scraps to cut additional cookies. Repeat this process with the other half of the remaining dough from the fridge.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the filling & assemble cookies:
- Combine butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Beat together until light and fluffy.
- Assemble the cookies by spreading a generous scoop of the icing onto one of the fully cooled cookies and sandwiching it with another. Give it a light squeeze and scrape any excess off to clear and even out the sides.
Lino
Thank you for this recipe, we tried it yesterday and it was a success
Bette Bruce
I love these cookies. They did seem a little too salty for my taste, even though I only added 1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt. Maybe it was because I used salted butter. Next time I will reduce the salt even more.
Samantha
I really like this cookie sandwich but I don’t think I would call it an oreo. I found it was more akin to the taste of a whoopie pie. Still very delicious! I also felt that the chocolate taste needed to be stronger. Would I need to add more cocoa powder or more sugar to achieve that?
Emilie Hebert
If you want a stronger chocolate taste, add more cocoa powder. But you may need to add more sugar to cut out some of the bitterness!
Katie West
My family and I are chocoholics, and I didn’t want to chance the cookies not being chocolatey enough. So, I used 1 cup cocoa and 2 teaspoons vanilla, and the cookies were utterly AMAZING! Totally worth the time and effort! One of our new favorite recipes!!
MOMables
SO GLAD YOU LOVED THEM! In our opinion they are chocolatey enough but hey … :)
Laura
Recipe is ok, cookie part was dry, tasteless and grainy, perhaps from whole wheat flour. Filling was way too sweet. Maybe I’ll add cream cheese next time.
MOMables
sorry these didn’t turn out for you.
Sarah
Hi! Yet to make these but just wondering, does the filling really last for upto 30 days in the fridge when it has milk and cream it in?
Thanks!
MOMables
Hi Sarah! Ours were fine, but it all just depends. I doubt they’ll last that long in your house anyway. ;)
Janessa
How do you store these? I’m making these for a gathering a day in advance. Thanks!
MOMables
I would just store them in a container in the fridge!
Olivia
Can you make a gluten free version?
MOMables
Hey Olivia! You could try using gluten-free all purpose flour in place of the wheat flour. Let us know if you try it!
Alexys
Do these cookies have any spread?
MOMables
Hi Alexys! If I understand what you’re asking, then no, these cookies don’t spread when they bake.
Tracy
Can I make this sugar free? A challenge huh? :-)
MOMables
I’ve never tried it Tracy. sorry!
Tracy
Can I make these sugar free?
MOMables
unfortunately, I’ve never tried it.
Elizabeth
I always liked the store bought oreos but always felt the cream was too sweet. As I got older I couldn’t make myself eat it anymore. I eat healthy most of the time. Anyway, those in the store seemed to have a undertone of coconut to me. Last night I made these with half coconut flour and half all purpose flour. They are good but I would have liked to have more of a chocolate presence. Do you have any suggestions for a deeper darker cookie?
Bloo
You can buy extra dark cocoa powder. Hershey’s Special Dark or if you have a bulk food store, inquire if they can get black cocoa. It’s REALLY black. I’ve gotten it for chocolate muffins and it makes it rich and dark. I’m saving mine for this recipe.
MOMables
That would work great!
Katey
I made the oreo’s this evening. I actually read this comment before I made them, and used extra dark cocoa powder (not hershey’s brand, but from a specialty food store). They turned out to be delicious, and as black in color as the store bought- the only difference is that the chocolate flavor was even deeper.
I left out the baking powder by accident, but it created a slightly soft and crunchy cookie. I also added about 1/3 cup of cocoa powder and a teaspoon of mint extract to the frosting to make a double chocolate mint cookie sandwich- I am thinking now I should’ve rolled the edges in crushed candy canes. Next Christmas!
Thank you for the recipe :)
MOMables
That chocolate mint cookie sandwich sounds delicious! Next year, maybe? :) Thanks, Katey!
Ana
If you substitute some of the sugar for molasses you may get a darker colour.
I am not sure about the ratio though, but if they turn out too sweet you can take out sugar from the filling (?).
Heather
Oh boy! I just made these the other day and they where delicious!! Perfect little oreo :).
Thanks for the recipe. For Christmas I am adding mint and making the icing green. Or I will roll it in crushed candy canes I think. They will make beautiful gifts. Here’s a photo of what mine turned out like:
[IMG]http://i61.tinypic.com/do2s7o.jpg[/IMG]
MOMables
Great job!
Heather
I am super excited to try these. I agree with the rest that oreo’s are supper delicious but full of bad things!
I was just wondering why you use wholewheat flour as supposed to AP flour? Have you tried them with both before?
MOMables
you can make it with both whole-wheat or AP flour. Enjoy!
Heather
I understand that you can use both but just wondering why you chose whole wheat over AP flour? Sorry for my weird questions lol :)
MOMables
Whole wheat will yield a denser, crispier cookie. And, some of our fans requested it with whole wheat when we were developing the recipe. You are welcome to use whichever you like. Enjoy!
Julie
When I was rolling the dough out it would stick to the rolling pin.
I had to cover it with Saran Wrap and them toll it out.
Any tips on getting it to not stick on the rolling pin?
MOMables
you can roll it between two sheets of parchment paper. that should help.
Caroline
I live in Costa Rica where half and half doesn’t exist. What can I substitute? Or use my own half milk half cream mixture?
MOMables
Caroline, half and half is exactly what you described: half milk half cream. enjoy!
Robin
Hi! I was wondering if I could make these with black dutched cocoa?
MOMables
you sure can.
Sharon
Thank you for this recipe. I have an issue in my house with dairy so I had to change the dairy ingredients for the non-dairy variety. But I have to say, they were still popular, and also makes for a great school treat because there are dairy issues in my son’s class.
Kitty
I can’t wait to make these!!!
I hate the high fructose corn syrup in store bought ones, makes them taste funny to me.
<3 <3 Thanks for posting an awesome recipe and being active in your comments.
MOMables
I hope you like them! :)
Balla
This recipe is amazing. Thank you so much. I made for little siblings and they went nuts for it.
Kayla
These cookies are amazing!!! I definitely prefer these to store bought Oreos. I did not have any cocoa powder on hand, so I made this substitution for every 3 Tbsp. cocoa powder: 1 ounce (30 grams) unsweetened chocolate (reduce fat in recipe by 1 tablespoon). I melted the chocolate and added it in at the same time as the egg and vanilla. I also substituted unsweetened applesauce for the butter to make them a little healthier. They turned out perfect and my family couldn’t stop eating them.
MOMables
thanks for sharing your successful substitution Kayla! :)
Dianne M
How much applesauce did you use to replace the butter..??? WOW healthy Oreos ! Thank you so much for the tip. This is sure to be a family favorite for many year’s. Thank you for sharing this post.
Karolin
I am really excited – the dough is now in the fridge…This is actually the second attempt – rookie mistake..I melted the butter in the microwave NO doesn’t work :) I will let you know if it worked out now :)
MOMables
Karolin, know that you are not the first one to melt the butter in the microwave. melting isn’t softened. let us know how good they come out!
Sara Lee
Can you use only ap flour in this recipe?
MOMables
Absolutely.
Carolina
Hi! Have you try with melted bitter sweet chocolate and the butter together instead cocoa powder?
MOMables
no I have not. typically, when recipes call for cocoa powder it’s not swappable for melted chocolate.
Kelly
Laura
For Christmas we got a Cuisinart Ice Cream machine. My children have been loving the “organic” ice cream coming out of that thing. They have been “begging” me to buy oreo’s so we can make “cookies and cream ice cream”. I finally caved and said I’d by ONE package and that’s it. We made the ice cream last night, and then I found you this morning!!! From this point forward, I’ll be making your recipe. That way I will have control of what ingredients will be used. Thank you so much for sharing this!! I told them about it when I picked them from school, and they are looking forward to making the cookies.
Blessings ✿◠‿◠,
Kelly
MOMables
Hi Kelly! I’m thrilled you found this recipe! For a cookies and cream ice cream flavor, you can save yourself the filling step and only make the cookies. just mix the baked and crumbled cookies in your ice-cream as it churns and is nearly finished.
Jan
A friend’s only request for Super Bowl Sunday is Salt Free Oreos. Any magic you can work to make this recipe or another oreo recipe salt free?
MOMables
Jan, the salt is part of the “leavening” meaning: it’s necessary so it activates the baking powder. you can reduce it but I don’t recommend leaving it out.
andrea
I know this is an old post, but maybe I will get a response!
I made these last night and they were fabulous! The only thing is the cookie is soft and crumbly, not crisp like an orea. Any suggestions for a crisper cookie?
Thanks!
MOMables
Andrea, the trick for a crispier cookie is thinner “cookie” and a minute or two longer baking. I am glad you liked them!
Jamie
I have a child who has a dairy allergy and store bought oreos are the only safe cookie that I can buy for her for a quick treat. I use dairy free butter but what can I use in replace of the half and half for the frosting?
MOMables
Jamie, I’ve successfully made these with full fat coconut milk.
Dan
I made the cookie part of the oreos and they are simply addictive. Better than the ones you buy, full of additives and processed ingredients. The whole meal flour is not even noticeable as the oreo wafer is so chocolatey. Amazing!
MOMables
who needs the filling when the chocolate wafer is so delicious!? :)
Kristin
I have been making homemade oreos for years by adapting a Smitten Kitchen recipe. My husband, a true cookie aficionado, claims they are better then real Oreos! To save time and keep the cookies from getting tough, I use my small cookie scoop to portion out even size mounds on a parchment lined baking sheet then squish the mounds with the bottom of a glass. When filling, you just match up 2 even sized cookies. At Christmas I make peppermint frosting and roll the cookie sandwiches in naturally dyed, corn syrup free candy cane bits. The cookies themselves (unfrosted) are great for any dessert recipe, like grasshopper pie, requiring a chocolate cookie crumb crust.
Also, since we try to eat desserts only on the weekend, I usually make the Oreos on a Saturday, then freeze the leftovers on Monday.
Cassie Webster
I recently stopped buying Oreos because I am cutting down on the sugars my family eats so this recipe is amazing!! Thank you so much! I can definitely allow these in the kitchen! ;)
Ludicrous Mama
How long are the cookies good for after baking?
Laura
how long do cookies last at your house? :) A few days in an air-tight container.
Marie
Oh what an awesome healthy alternative to our favorite store-bought Oreo cookies. I would definitely try this out. My only drawback would be, it might become a regular in my cookie jar once the addiction sets in. Double time in the kitchen!
Sue Robinson
Ha! I know right! I keep staring that the filling in my freezer!
Kristiina
Sue, these look delish! I will be trying these in the near future. For us novice bakers…can you explain how to cream butter and sugar together? I know that is probably a dumb question, but I never seem to do it right:)
Sue Robinson
Hi love! SO glad to see you here and please, never a dumb question. The key to creaming butter and sugar together is to use room temperature butter. Not butter you heated up in the microwave for a bit and some is warm, some is cold and some is melting. This makes everything fall apart when you are adding things one by one.
I just dump the sugar in the mixing bowl and then add the room temperature butter and mix until well incorporated; meaning no big lumps of either ingredient alone, not mixed in. If you remember to always use room temperature ingredients you should never have any problems.
Hope this helped!
Kristiina
Thanks lady! That does make sense. I’ll have to try these at some point when life calms down for a minute:)
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc
love these!
Sue Robinson
Thanks! They are so yummy and beautiful!
Brandy @insanemamacita
MMM… chocolate… *drools*
Sue Robinson
I am still drooling!
Elizabeth
These look and sound amazing. May have to make them tonight!
Sue Robinson
They were so beautiful when I finished them it broke my heart to gobble them up, well, almost broke my heart! HA!
Keeley McGuire
I’m in love. And drooling.
Now to whip up a GF version… Little Miss misses Oreos most of all I think. LOL
Laura
for GF substitute the flour measurements + 2TB of GF all purpose baking flower (like Bob’s Red Mill)
merle
Personally, I don’t like Bob’s GF AP flour – anyone actually try this with their own mix or another GF version?
MOMables
I use king arthur flour baking mix to make these GF. You can see the ones I suggest here under pantry essentials.