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I love homemade Oreos. I call them my happiness cookies. They are delightfully crisp, chocolatey, slightly bitter, with the perfect creamy center. Who doesn’t love chocolate and cream? Deep, dark, chocolate wafers are very intensely flavored with the help of two different kinds of cocoa powder. The instant espresso powder and soy sauce found in the wafers help accentuate the chocolaty flavor and make the cookies basically scream in a deep bass voice, “EAT ME I’M CHOCOLATE!” Add some extra creamy, milky white filling, and voila! You’ve got the best homemade Oreo cookies ever! Perfect for any occasion, homemade Oreo cookies are the ultimate celebration cookie.
Speaking of celebrating…I finished my second year as a preschool music teacher! YAY! Summer is on the way, and it is time to party! This week was both hectic, fun, stressful, and busy. There were spring student performances, recitals, and graduations. Grades are done, and all the meetings are coming to an end. This means, it’s the perfect time to celebrate with a well earned treat! What better way to kick start summer!
Accidentally Gluten Free
Also surprise! These sweet treats are accidentally gluten free! When I first began formulating this recipe, I started with a shortbread. It was good, but the cookies were lacking in the crisp department. I wanted the cookie dough to be as short as possible. I didn’t want the gluten strands to get worked at all, so I started using gluten free flour. It was perfect! I made this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 Gluten Free flour. I don’t know if it works with other brands, but I know this one works really great!
Adding baking powder gave the cookies some rise that allowed for a lighter crumb. Cornstarch added to the crumbly texture, and the espresso powder helped make the cocoa powder shine. Oh! speaking of cocoa powder…
Speaking of Cocoa Powder…
What makes an Oreo is the type of cocoa powder you use. In order to get the right color and taste, you need black cocoa powder. Black cocoa powder is really cool! It’s chocolate on a whole different level. Black cocoa powder has been heavily alkalised. I am not an expert on what that is, but I will say it acts differently than normal cocoa powder. I had initially used baking soda instead of baking powder in this recipe. that test cookie didn’t work because the baking soda doesn’t react to black cocoa powder. It is missing the acid necessary. Instead, I read that baking powder will still work. That’s what I used instead!
I didn’t like the flavor of 100% black cocoa powder, so you will find Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder in this recipe as well! The cookies don’t taste as bitter, and they are as close as I can get to the real deal!
I couldn’t find black cocoa powder in my grocery store, so I found it on Amazon. You can find black cocoa powder here!
Hold Up! Why Soy Sauce??
I promise that I don’t throw soy sauce into everything! There is an excellent reason as to why soy sauce found its way into my ultimate Oreo cookie. Besides taking the place of salt, it gives the cocoa powder the little savory kick it needed. Soy sauce is a surprisingly perfect pair to anything chocolate. Don’t knock it til you try it! If you really want to make this recipe gluten free, omit the soy sauce and just add a dash of salt. It will still taste great.
Crisco VS Butter
I tried this recipe using a butter base first. While I don’t usually care to use Crisco in baking, the butter based cookie dough was lacking the same crisp snap. If you want to try using butter instead, go for it! It will still taste delicious.
ALL the Filling!!
Growing up, sugar wasn’t a common commodity at our house. On the rare occasion that mom bought Oreo cookies, you had to be really quick or else the creamy sweet centers would go missing…we had a filling thief in the house! My sister loved the creamy centers of Oreo cookies. She would sneak the filling out of the cookies and then put the chocolate wafers back into the box. If you reached for the cookies after her, sometimes you were in for a surprise. Sometimes you would think you were getting delicious Oreos with creamy centers…instead all that was left were chocolate cookies!
Luckily, making your own homemade treats means you can put as much filling as you want inside! Go thin, double stuffed, or triple stuffed! Because they are homemade, you can make them exactly how you like them. This filling recipe makes enough for two batches. It can also freeze if you want to make the second batch another time.
Let’s Make the Ultimate Celebration Oreo!
Step 1: Cream Crisco and Sugar Together
Combine granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and Crisco together. Cream til light and fluffy. I prefer using Crisco over butter because it helped make a really crispy wafer.
Step 2: Add the Cocoa Powder and Espresso Powder
Next, add in the black cocoa powder, special dark cocoa powder, and espresso. Look at how different the black cocoa powder is from the special dark! Blend it til combined.
Step 3: Mix in the remaining Ingredients
Using a fine mesh sieve, sift the flour and cornstarch over your cookie dough. Add the vanilla, soy sauce, milk and xantham gum til fully incorporated. I like to use my hands. Divide into two equal balls.
Pro Tip: Put the flour and the cornstarch through a sieve before you add it to the cookie dough. If you don’t, you will have tons of little white pockets that will take forever to mix in. Because this dough is essentially black, you will see every ingredient that isn’t fully incorporated.
Step 4: Shape and Chill
Cut a large piece of plastic wrap and lay the first dough ball on one end. Using your hands, shape the dough ball into a log about 8 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and repeat with the second dough ball. Chill them for about 30 minutes.
Step 5: Cut and Bake
Cut the log into slices about 1/4 inch. Lay them an inch apart on a parchment paper, silpat, or non-stick cooking sheet.
Pro Tip: Reshape the cookies back into circles if they get misshapen.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. The wafers need to be crisp because the frosting softens them up. If you like your cookies to be soft, bake them for 6 minutes.
Pro Tip: Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet to finish crisping up. Transfer them to a wire rack, and bake the remaining cookies.
Step 6: Make The Filling
Using a hand mixer, cream the butter and powdered sugar together. Add the vanilla, dash of salt, and milk. Beat until you have a light and fluffy buttercream.
Pro Tip: Your butter needs to be soft. If not, you won’t get the right texture of buttercream.
Step 7: It’s Filling Time!
Using the piping bag, squeeze about 1 quarter sized dollop of frosting onto one chocolate wafer. Top with a second cookie and gently push down until the cream reaches the edges of the cookie sandwich. Feel free to add more of less cream depending on your preference.
Don’t forget to have a glass of milk nearby for dunking! I hope you enjoy these homemade cookies and have the best summer ever!
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Homemade Oreo Cookies
Ingredients
Chocolate Wafers
- 2/3 cup crisco (about 11 tbsp)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup black cocoa powder I like to use King Arthur Black Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 cup special dark cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 tsp espresso powder
- 1 cup gluten free flour I recommend Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch Sift the cornstarch to remove lumps
- 1/4 tsp xantham gum
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp soy sauce (optional)
- 3 tbsp milk
Filling
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp imitation vanilla For a perfectly white frosting, use imitation vanilla. If not, substitute with real vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 3-3 1/2 cup powdered sugar Start with 3 cups. If the filling is thin, add the 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat Crisco and sugar til fluffy (3-4 minutes)
- Add the black cocoa powder, special dark cocoa powder, and espresso powder. Mix til combined (about 1 minute.)
- Sift the flour and cornstarch over the cookie dough using a sieve to remove any lumps. Don't skip this step! Add the xantham gum, vanilla, soy sauce and milk. Mix with a spoon or your hand until fully incorporated. The dough will be very thick.
- Form the dough into two equal balls. With one dough ball, cut a large piece of plastic wrap and place the dough in the middle. Roll the ball into a log about 1 1/2 inches wide and roughly 8 inches long. Repeat with the second dough ball. Wrap it in the plastic wrap and chill for about 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside. When ready to bake, unwrap the dough log and slice into 1/4 inch rounds. Lay cookies an inch apart from each other on the baking sheet. Reshape the cookies back into circles as needed. You will have enough wafers for approximately 35 cookies.
- Bake for 8 minutes. The cookies will still be soft. Remove from the oven and let the cookies sit on the tray until cool (at least 5 minutes). This helps them crisp up! If you like a softer cookie, bake for only 6 minutes.
Make the Filling!
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter with the milk, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Fill a piping bag with the filling. Cut a hole in the bottom of the piping bag. You can add a piping tip, but a hole works just fine!
Assemble the Cookies
- Pipe a quarter sized dot of filling into the center of one chocolate wafer. Top with a second wafer and gently push down until the cream reaches the edges of the cooking sandwich!
- Enjoy with a glass of milk and celebrate the start of summer!
