Homemade Oreos

These cookies will knock your socks off! They are sort of a cross between an Oreo and a whoopie pie, but the grown-up version. That’s not to say kids won’t love them too! The outside cookies have a rich, dark chocolate flavor and a nice crunch to them. The filling is a sweet, vanilla icing that really pairs well with the dark chocolate. I could eat the whole batch! I had these bad boys sitting on my counter for 2 days, and I ended up having to give them to the neighbors because I couldn’t stop eating them! And then, they had the same problem 🍪🍫🥛 and ate them all immediately!

Homemade Oreos

1. We’re going to start by making the cookies. Make sure you have a whisk and a wooden spoon (or some other sturdy spoon). This dough will get very thick and be difficult to mix if you’re using a flimsy spatula. The first thing you need to do is melt your butter and your chocolate. You can melt the chocolate in a double boiler on the stove, or you can microwave it. If you use the microwave, do not heat it more than 30 seconds at a time without stirring…it will burn VERY easily.

2. Now, add your sugar to the melted butter and whisk it together.

3. Next, add your melted chocolate and vanilla and whisk it together again. The mixture will look pretty grainy.

4. Finally, add your egg and whisk again. The mixture should feel a tiny bit thicker at this point.

5. Okay, it’s time to get a little messy! Add your dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture (flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda). Start off with your whisk and mix until it’s mostly incorporated into the chocolate mixture. It will look a little crazy.

6. Switch over to your wooden spoon, and mix until the mixture is well incorporated. You shouldn’t see any more chunks of flour or cocoa powder and it will feel more like a thick cookie dough.

7. Let the cookie dough sit in the bowl for about 20-30 minutes. It will start to firm up even more as it sits.

8. Cut a piece of parchment paper 13-15 inches long. Make sure it’s not longer than your largest baking sheet. I prefer to use pre-cut sheets so they’re flat and commercial sized half sheet pans, so mine is 15 inches.

9. Your dough should feel firmer now. Pour it out onto your parchment paper and start to shape it into a cylinder on the long edge of the parchment, about 3 inches from the edge. Try to make it as even as possible.

10. Pull the end of the parchment over your dough cylinder and pull it tightly towards you to work the dough into more of a cylinder shape. Then continue to roll the parchment until it’s all wrapped around your dough.

11. Once it’s mostly rounded, transfer the roll to a baking sheet and put it in the refrigerator for about an hour. The dough will become very hard in the refrigerator. You can leave it until the next day if you aren’t ready to bake yet.

12. Preheat your oven to 350℉. Remove your dough from the refrigerator and get either a knife or a bench scraper. I prefer to use a bench scraper so I don’t have to worry about getting out a cutting board, but it’s up to you; both will work fine! Unwrap your dough and cut it into 1/4 inch thick disks.

13. The dough might crumble a bit as you cut it. That’s okay! You can use your hands to mash it back together. If the cookies don’t look very round after you cut them, same thing, use your hands to reshape them a bit. Try to keep them around 1/4 inch thick though. Lay them flat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

14. Bake the cookies at 350℉ for 20 minutes. It’s hard to tell when these are done, because the color won’t change much. They will feel a little crispy on the edges and the middle won’t feel very spongy. If you keep them 1/4 inch thick, 20 minutes should work though!

15. While the cookies are baking we can make the filling! Make sure your butter is softened. I used a stand mixer for this. Whip your butter with the whisk attachment until it’s a little fluffy. Then switch to the beater attachment. Add the powdered sugar, and mix on low speed, scraping often. You are just trying to get the butter mixed with the sugar so it doesn’t stick to the sides so much when you add your other ingredients.

16. Next, add the vanilla, milk, and salt. Start on low speed and once the powdered sugar is mixed enough that it won’t fly out of the bowl, turn up the speed to high for a few seconds to get everything well mixed and get rid of any clumps.

17. It’s time to put it all together! Once your cookies have cooled, pair them up in sets of two, trying to keep the most similar-sized cookies together. Put them on your baking sheet, one right side up and one upside down. Fill up a piping bag with your filling and cut off the tip, leaving a hole with a half-inch diameter.

18. Pipe about 1 heaping tablespoon of filling onto the center of the cookie that is flipped upside down. Take the cookie that is right side up, and gently press it on top of the filling. Wiggle it a bit so the filling evenly distributes out to the edges of the cookies. When the filling hits the edges, stop applying pressure. You made a homemade Oreo!

19. Enjoy! I actually think these taste better after they’ve been sitting for a day and the filling has time to set, but go ahead and dig in if you can’t wait to try them!