Homemade Oreos

 Homemade Oreos are made simple, thanks to some store-bought short-cuts — a cake mix and pudding mix!

Two deeply chocolate, thick, soft, and chewy cookies sandwich a creamy frosting reminiscent of the creme inside Oreo® cookies.

We love Homemade Oreos so much that we made a fun flavor variation — be sure to try these Cookie Dough Oreos next!

What to expect from Homemade Oreos

While these aren’t completely like real Oreo cookies, they’ve got similar flavors and a nearly identical creme filling. But, instead of crispy, hard chocolate cookies, these cookies are soft, chewy, and deeply chocolatey. They’re very rich and sweet!

Slightly underbaked, the cookies are very fudgy and even a bit gooey. And frosted while they’re still just a tiny bit warm, they practically melt in your mouth — yum!

If you’re looking for cookies exactly like real Oreos — more crispy and crunchy — this recipe won’t be the one you’ll want to use. These are more like an Oreo Whoopie pie. As soft and chewy cookie addicts, we prefer these to real Oreos any day! 🙂 

What Cake Mix To Use

These Homemade Oreos begin with a cake mix and only require four other ingredients. With so few ingredients, the cake mix is very important to the end flavor and texture of these cookies.

We’ve tried several different cake mixes, and truly none even come close to Betty Crocker’s® Super Moist Triple Chocolate Fudge Mix (pictured above). I’m not paid or affiliated by Betty Crocker; this is simply our preference for this recipe.

We love the softness, fudgy-ness, and deep rich flavor this cake mix contributes to these cookies. Use the cake mix, but don’t follow any package directions for preparing the cake; we’ll add our own ingredients!

What pudding mix to use

Beyond the cake mix, the other ingredient to pay close attention to is the pudding mix. While it would be nice if any boxed pudding worked in this recipe, this part of the recipe is very specific.

We’re looking to use chocolate instant pudding mix– not the cook-and-serve type. We also want to ensure the pudding mix is not sugar-free or reduced-calorie — those varieties won’t work the same.

The other thing to keep an eye out for is the pudding box size. There are typically two sizes — a larger and smaller one. We want to get the small 3.9-ounce (111g) box.

When using the pudding mix in these cookies, use the dry mix — don’t prepare it according to package directions.

Other Ingredients

Besides the cake mix and pudding mix, there are three other ingredients which I describe below:

• Eggs. Be sure to use large eggs in this recipe.
• Butter. It’s important the butter is at room temperature and not melted for this recipe. If the butter is too soft or melted, this Homemade Oreo cookie dough will need to be chilled before baking.
• Vanilla Extract. This adds a nice touch of flavor but is not entirely necessary. If you don’t have vanilla on hand, feel free to leave it out.

Homemade Oreo Frosting Notes

This frosting recipe is a bit unique, but we think it tastes so similar to the creme inside of packaged Oreo cookies!

• Let’s talk shortening. While I very rarely use shortening in my recipes, I find it has the most similar flavor to the creme filling in real Oreos. If you’re totally opposed to shortening, butter will work just fine, but there will be more of a buttercream flavor than Oreo creme flavor.
• Consistency. The consistency of this frosting is very thick — again, more creme-like, than frosting. To thin it out, add a bit more hot water or even milk. 
• Use immediately after making. Frost the cookies right after the frosting has been prepared. The longer the frosting sits, the more it thickens and becomes harder to spread on the cookies.
• Try a different filling. If you aren’t sure about the filling recipe, see the section below for different frosting ideas to add to the center of these Homemade Oreos.

Homemade Oreo Tips

• Use room-temperature butter. With butter that is at room temperature, the batter beats up nice and smoothly. If the butter is too soft or melted, the cookie dough will need to be chilled before being baked so the cookies don’t spread too much.
• Bake on a Silpat® liner or parchment paper. This helps bake the cookies evenly without burning or browning too much on the bottoms. Plus, the clean-up is effortless!
• Ever so slightly underbake. If you overbake these cookies, the taste and texture will be off. Slightly underbaking these cookies keeps them soft, chewy, and rich tasting. Remember, the residual heat on the pan continues to bake the cookies for a couple of minutes even after they are pulled out of the oven.
• Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They’re best enjoyed within 2-3 days. Unfortunately, these cookies become harder, and firmer every day they aren’t eaten. If they won’t be consumed that quickly, bake up a few and freeze the rest of the cookie dough for later! (See “quick tip” bow below.)

More Delicious Cookies:

• Funfetti Cookies loaded with sprinkles
• Rocky Road Cookies with chocolate, peanuts, and marshmallows
• Salted Caramel Cookies with cream cheese frosting and caramel drizzle
• Avalanche Cookies no-bake peanut butter cookies
• No-Bake Oreo Cookies dipped in milk chocolate