A sleeve of Oreos rides in my backpack on almost every trip I take. Oreo is sold in more than 100 countries, so they’re rarely hard to find. Some places even get their own flavors, like green tea ice cream.
Back home, whatever survives the trip goes straight into cookie dough. These cookies and cream cookies bake up soft, with big Oreo chunks inside. White chips stand in for the cream, and cream cheese keeps them tender.
First comes my cookies and cream cookies recipe, then a few easy shortcuts. There’s a box cake version, a pudding version, and soft sour cream cookies. Pick the one that fits the time you have.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Everything mixes in one big bowl with a hand mixer. Honestly, the hardest part is not eating the Oreos first. I’ve lost a few cookies’ worth to that problem more than once.
A few tablespoons of cream cheese keep these soft for days. It adds moisture and a bit of tang, but it won’t taste like cheesecake. Cornstarch helps by holding on to moisture as they cool.
The dough keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days. I bake four or five at a time that way. Warm cookies on a random Tuesday feel like a small win.
Cookies and Cream Cookies Ingredients & Substitutions
Most of this is basic baking stuff, plus one pack of Oreos. Set the butter, cream cheese, and egg on the counter until they’re soft. Cold dairy won’t blend smoothly, and you’ll see tiny lumps in the dough.
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 oz (57 g) brick-style cream cheese, softened: skip the tub kind. It has extra moisture and can make the cookies spread.
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) packed light brown sugar: dark brown sugar works too. It just adds a deeper molasses taste.
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2½ cups (313 g) all-purpose flour: spoon and level it, or weigh it. A 1:1 gluten-free blend works with gluten-free Oreos.
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 15 Oreos (about 170 g), roughly chopped: regular Oreos work best. Check the table below before swapping.
- ¾ cup (130 g) white chocolate chips: semisweet chips make them less sweet.
Chop the Oreos by hand into big pieces, about four to six per cookie. A food processor turns them into fine crumbs that tint the dough gray. You want real chunks you can see when you break a cookie open.
How To Make Cookies and Cream Cookies
Now, let’s jump to my recipe part.
Step 1: Chop the Oreos and Whisk the Dry Ingredients
Break each Oreo into four to six pieces with your hands or a knife. Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set both aside while you work on the butter.
Step 2: Beat the Cream Cheese and Butter
Beat the cream cheese alone first, until it’s smooth with no lumps left. Then add the butter and beat for about a minute. Cream cheese is softer than butter, so this order prevents little clumps.
Step 3: Add the Sugars, Egg, and Vanilla
Add both sugars and beat on medium for 1 to 2 minutes, until fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Don’t skip that scrape, because butter loves to hide at the bottom.
Step 4: Fold in the Dry Ingredients and Oreos
Mix in the flour on low speed until only a few dry streaks remain. Switch to a spatula and fold in the Oreos and ½ cup of the white chips. Keep the rest of the chips for pressing on top later.
Step 5: Chill the Dough
Cover the bowl and chill the dough for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days. Chilled dough spreads less, and the flour has time to soak up moisture. Let it sit out for 15 minutes before scooping so it’s easier to roll.
Step 6: Scoop and Bake
Heat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll 2-tablespoon balls, space them 2 inches apart, and press chips on top. Bake one sheet at a time for 10 to 12 minutes.
Step 7: Cool
Pull them out when the edges are set and barely golden. The centers will look a little underdone, but they firm up on the warm pan. Give them 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack.
Fun Cookie Recipes With the Same Oreo Twist
Some days I can’t be bothered with a from-scratch dough. These fun cookie recipes cut corners but keep the cookies and cream taste. Neither one needs chilling, which is handy for late-night cravings.
Cookies and Cream Cookies With Box Cake
For this recipe, you’d need:
- 1 box white cake mix
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1½ cups roughly chopped Oreos
Stir the mix, eggs, and oil into a thick dough, then fold in the Oreos. Scoop 1½-tablespoon balls and bake at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes. Betty Crocker boxes are 13.25 oz and Duncan Hines are 15.25 oz; both work.
Cake mix is raw flour, so keep little helpers out of the bowl. The FDA advises against tasting raw dough or batter, cake mix included. Save the snacking for after the timer.
Cookies and Cream Cookies With Pudding
Beat 1 cup softened butter with ¾ cup brown sugar and ¼ cup white sugar. Add 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and a 4.2 oz box of Oreo pudding mix. Stir in 2¼ cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1½ cups chopped Oreos.
Use the instant mix dry, straight from the pouch. Bake 2-tablespoon balls at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes. Vanilla pudding mix works if you can’t find that one.
Sour Cream Cookies
Sour cream cookies are the opposite of chewy, and that’s the whole point. They bake up soft and cakey, a lot like frosted grocery store cookies. I frost mine and scatter crushed Oreos on top so they fit right in here.
Ingredients I Use
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
How to Make Sour Cream Cookies
- Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg, sour cream, and vanilla.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until just mixed.
- Scoop 2-tablespoon mounds and bake at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes.
- Let them cool all the way before frosting, or the frosting will slide off.
I stick with full-fat sour cream, which gives the most tender crumb. Pull them before the edges brown, or they lose that soft, cakey feel. A thin layer of vanilla frosting is all they need.
Pro Tips
- For cookies and cream cookies ice cream sandwiches, freeze cookies first. After 20 minutes, sandwich ¼ cup of softened ice cream between two. Press gently and freeze for at least 3 hours before serving.
- Keep baked cookies and cream cookies in an airtight container for a week. They stay soft longer than most cookies, thanks to the cream cheese.
- Freeze scooped dough balls for up to 3 months. Bake them straight from the freezer and add 1 to 2 minutes to the time.
- If a cookie spreads into an odd shape, fix it right out of the oven. Set a round cutter over it and swirl gently until the edges look round.
Wrapping Up
The classic cookies and cream cookies are still my favorite of the bunch. The cream cheese dough is worth the extra hour in the fridge. When I get home tired from a long trip, though, the box cake version wins.
Whichever one you choose, grab an extra pack of Oreos before you start. Half of that pack has a way of vanishing while you chop. Ask me how I know.
Cookies and Cream Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- Beat cream cheese and butter
- Add sugars
- Egg, and vanilla
- Mix in dry ingredients
- Fold in Oreos and chips
- Chill 1 hour
- Bake 2-tbsp balls at 350°F for 10-12 minutes
