This is a recipe well traveled…and well loved! I got the recipe from Cupcake Project, who got the recipe from Laurie of Heaven is Chocolate, Cheese, and Carbs. Laurie got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, who got the recipe from the book Retro Desserts by Wayne Brachman. I am reprinting it below with my some of my notes.
Why go to the trouble to make Homemade Oreos, you might ask. Well, as you are well aware of by now, I am on a mission to feed my family more wholesome ingredients. How are cookies wholesome? Well, don’t get too excited. These cookies aren’t healthy. But, I don’t want to feed my family foods with high fructose corn syrup, and if I make them myself I can control the ingredients. I can use organic flours if I want and organic butter, etc. I know that I haven’t added any chemicals and everyone needs a treat every now and then! My husband LOVES cookies, and what kids don’t love cookies?!? I love to make a big batch of these for my family to enjoy and to share with others. So, without further delay, here is the recipe so if you feel so inclined, you can do the same.
Homemade “Oreo” Cookies
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/4 t baking powder
1 C sugar
1/2 C plus 2 T butter (room temperature
1 large egg
1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
2. Beat in the butter and the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place ona parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. (One tip from the previous bakers said that she would press the balls flat with the palm of her hand and then use cookie cutters to cut out perfect circles. This dough is way too sticky to roll out. However, what I ended up doing is rolling a ball in my hands, pressing it flat on the palm of my hand and then using a plastic cookie cutter right on my hand. Then, I peeled it off and put it on the baking sheet. This is the most tedious part… but believe me, it is worth it!)
4. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes (7 for soft, 9 for crunchy – like real Oreos) at 375 F. Set on a rack to cool.
The Filling
1/4 C room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 C vegetable shortening
2 C sifted powdered sugar
2 t vanilla extract
1. Place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla.
2. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
3. To make a cookie, pipe teaspoon-sized blobs of cream into the center of a cookie using a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch round tip. (If you don’t have a pastry bag, you could easily just spread the filling with a knife or use a Ziploc with the corner cut off as a pastry bag).
4. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.
Paul Newman has Newman O’s…they’re just like Oreos but all natural and made with organic ingredients. They are pricey (think $5 a bag!!) but absolutely delish!!
These sound great but I wouldn’t use hydrogenated shortening. I would use refined coconut oil (no coconut flavor) or non-hydrogenated lard.
These sound very tasty! Thanks!
i was thinking the same… great tip!
Leah,
I’d be interested in hearing how they turn out if you make them with these alterations. I wasn’t too thrilled with the shortening either but figured they still had to be better than all the chemicals in processed ones. They are still not “healthy” by far! LOL. But, they are a delish treat.
Denise
I can’t consume shortening due to a medical problem (no hydrogenated anything) so I made them with all butter and they came out great!
I kept them in the fridge just in case the butter made them less shelf/pantry stable.
thanks for the recipe
PS – cheaper then the organic ones I get at the store too. Just for kicks & giggles, I need to check the cost of Oreos and see how the cost of these compare.
Hmmm puzzled what medical condition would prevent consumption of hydrogenated unsaturated oil, which just makes it saturated, like butter. But anyway…
Thank you I can now make oreos with out the filling i hate the filling:)
Has anyone frozen these? How do they do?
Hello! I have made these several times and have frozen them. They do well and still taste great. My kids even like to munch on them semi-frozen.
I plan on making these soon I’m going to try rolling the dough out in between two pieces of Wax paper to see if that allows for and easier/faster cutout of the cookie, I’ll let you know how it goes.
I made them today and rolling between wax paper to about 1/4 inch thick worked well. I used the lid to my daughters bottle as a small circle cookie cutter. They came out great, I even doubled the recipe and used this method to make them somewhat uniform.
My friend and I made these today and they came out GREAT!!!! We opted out of the cookie-cutter as we didn’t have time to chill the dough and found it to be too tedious. What we did was roll the dough into small balls and then I flattened them with the base of a small milk glass and used a dull knife to peel them off (the dough is sticky). They turned out looking great and tasted HEAVENLY!!!! I’m a huge Oreo fan but these are seriously better than Oreos!!!
How many cookies does this recipe make? I am wondering if I should double it. Also does anyone know how these freeze?
I can’t remember. I think it makes about 2 dozen sandwich cookies (counting 2 cookies as one sandwich cookie). Not sure about freezing. I’d love to hear if anyone has frozen them before.
Denise Sawyer
Wholesome Mommy
I have made these and these are terrific. I found the same recipe a few months back and just love them. There are a few things I do differently.
Instead of using unsweetened cocoa, I use the Hershey’s special dark cocoa (processed with alkali), found right next to the other cocoa. This is the cocoa actually used in oreos if you look on the package. It really tastes great in the cookies.
Also, instead of shortening, I ended up using all butter for the filling because I wasn’t that crazy about the shortening taste. It worked great and tastes great too.
I also love the minto oreos so in one batch I added some mint flavoring (along with the vanilla) to the filling and a little green food coloring (so I could distinguish them) and these are incredible!! I think I even like them better than the original.
I have frozen them and they do really well in the freezer. We even ate them semi-frozen. Yummy!
If anyone is worried about the shortening, I found a non-hydrogenated organic vegetable shortening from Spectrum. It works just like regular shortening. I was craving oreos, so I am going to try making these.
This is my photo you used here, and I would have appreciated a credit link at the very least, asking first would have been even better. If you could please remove it ASAP that would be great. Thank you.
Lindsay,
I do apologize. I was using your photo as a place holder until I uploaded my own. And, then with my busyness I just forgot to do that. I have replaced it with my own photo right away and I do apologize for taking without asking.
Sorry for the trouble.
Denise Sawyer