Using a combination of butter and cream cheese, these cookies & cream cookies are extra soft and uniquely creamy-tasting. Fill the dough with white chocolate chips and big chunks of Oreo cookies. Brown sugar and a touch of cornstarch adds extra softness, while the chopped Oreos add a little crunch. You definitely won’t regret making a double batch.
Two cookies in one. Literally! If you love cookies & cream ice cream and Oreos are your weakness, you’re going to be REALLY happy about this.
Do you have a paperback copy of Sally’s Baking Addiction cookbook? If so, you’ll see Cream Cheese Cookies ‘n Cream Cookies on page 125. We’re using the same exact ingredients here, but I add even more cream cheese and butter. I also skip 1 egg and add white chocolate chips. The cookies are just as soft, but they have more flavor, a creamier texture, and chewier edges. You’ll love the sweet white chips in each bite, too. You can’t go wrong with either variation!
These Cookies & Cream Cookies Are:
- Exceptionally soft from the cream cheese
- A texture lover’s dream (crunchy Oreos, soft cookie base)
- As chewy as my chewy chocolate chip cookies
- As thick as my peanut butter cookies (but with big chunks of Oreos!)
- Perfectly sweet with white chocolate chips
Cookies & Cream Cookies: Power Ingredients
A few ingredients add to their signature flavor and texture. Here’s how:
- Cornstarch: I love adding a touch of cornstarch to chocolate chip cookies because it helps create a softer, thicker cookie. Same story here.
- Cream Cheese: Like I mention above, I use more cream cheese in this recipe than the cookbook version. I wanted a more noticeable cream cheese flavor and a creamier texture, too; one that exceeds the texture of my cream cheese sugar cookies.
- Butter: Room temperature butter, along with cream cheese, is the base of this cookie recipe. You can soften butter quickly with this trick. (This trick also works for softening the cream cheese, too!)
- Granulated & Brown Sugar: Sugar is not only used for sweetness, but for providing structure and tenderness too. Granulated sugar helps the cookies spread, and brown sugar keeps the cookies soft.
- White Chocolate Chips: White chocolate chips add a similar sweet “cream” flavor that’s found in the Oreo cookies. If you don’t have white chocolate chips or don’t want to use them, semi-sweet, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or even peanut butter chips work instead. Or skip them altogether and add more Oreos.
- Oreo Cookies: Just what you need to make the perfect Oreo cookie crust, too. To prevent the cookie dough from turning gray as a result of all the Oreos, keep the chunks of Oreo cookies on the larger side. And I actually broke them up by hand instead of using a knife.
Can I use other flavor Oreos? Yes, of course! Try peanut butter, birthday cake, golden, mint, or any other Oreo cookie flavor you love. If you love playing around with flavored Oreos, try my cookies & cream pie, too. It’s fantastic with the mint Oreos!
Cream the Butter & Cream Cheese Together
Creamed butter and sugar is the base of many cookie recipes. But before we add the sugar, it’s imperative to properly cream the cream cheese and butter together. The two are different textures—cream cheese is much softer than butter. My tip is to beat the cream cheese in your mixer until very soft and smooth, with no lumps. Then add the softened butter and beat together until combined and thick. See photo above (left).
This is your creamy base for the cookies. It’s the same cookie dough base as these strawberry & cream cookies. And it tastes much better in these both cookie recipes than using ONLY butter. (Trust me!)
The cookie dough is soft and creamy, so make sure you take the time to chill it in the refrigerator. The cookies will spread into puddles otherwise.
After chilling, roll the cookie dough into balls and bake:
3 Cookie Tips to Improve Your Next Batch
- Spoon & Level the Flour: The amount of flour makes or breaks a cookie recipe—literally. Spoon and level that flour or, better yet, weigh your flour.
- Chill the Cookie Dough: Chilling the cookie dough is an imperative step in this recipe. The colder the dough, the less the cookies will over-spread into greasy puddles. You’ll have thicker, sturdier, and more solid cookies.
- Bake 1 Batch at a Time: You get the best possible results when the oven only concentrates on 1 batch at a time. If you need to bake more than one batch at a time, rotate the baking sheets from the top rack to bottom rack a couple times through the baking process to encourage even browning. And turn the sheets around as well. Ovens have hot spots!
The bites with excessive Oreo cream are clearly the best. You’ll love this cookies and cream cake, too!
Print
Cookies & Cream Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Using a combination of butter and cream cheese, these cookies & cream cookies are extra soft and uniquely creamy-tasting. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours before baking.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces (112g) block full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks or 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (180g) white chocolate chips
- 1 and 1/4 cups (about 110g) roughly chopped Oreos (10 whole Oreos)
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the butter and beat until combined (see photo for a visual), scraping down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, beat in the white chocolate chips. Add the Oreos and beat on low speed or gently fold in with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon (dough is heavy) until combined. Cover and chill the dough for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator (and up to 4 days). If chilling for longer than a few hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Roll cookie dough, a heaping 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie (I use this medium-size cookie scoop), and place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12–13 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more white chips or Oreo pieces into the tops—this is only for looks!
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 4. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Here’s how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat and Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Cornstarch: I love adding a little cornstarch to some cookie recipes because it helps keep the cookies extra soft. You can leave it out if you don’t have any with no other changes to the recipe needed. (The cookies are still pretty soft without it!)
- Cream Cheese: Use half of an 8-ounce block of full-fat cream cheese. Do not use cream cheese spread or whipped cream cheese. If using low-fat or fat-free, keep in mind that the texture of the cookies will be different. They won’t be as rich or chewy and could spread more. I recommend full-fat.
- Oreos: You need about 10 Oreos. Use any flavor you love, including Golden Oreos. I like to use Double Stuf, but regular work too. Give the Oreos a very rough chop into bite-sized pieces as pictured above. Or break them up by hand. Chopping into finer pieces creates a lot of dark sandy crumbs. Obviously the taste of the cookies won’t change, but your cookies will look different and darker than pictured.
- White Chocolate Chips: Feel free to skip the white chocolate chips and add 5–6 more chopped Oreos or replace with the same amount of your favorite cookie add-in such as peanut butter chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped nuts, etc.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Keywords: cookies & cream cookies, cookies and cream cookies
Can I double this recipe? Or should I make two separate batches of dough?
Hi Christina, it’s fine to double these cookies, so long as your mixer can handle the added volume. Enjoy!
I loved trying to make this recipe it was really cool and delicious cookies!
Great recipe but I found that refrigerating the dough for a few days will cause the Oreos to get soft and when you roll them in balls they don’t want to stick where alot of Oreo dust accumulates and when baked they hollow at at that spot dough was in glass bowl ceram wrapped
The cookies were delicious, but I found that they needed a good bit longer in the oven to avoid tasting too raw (and I like a good underbaked cookie, typically). I ended up baking my second batch for 18 minutes and they came out great.
★★★★
Hi. Great recipe! How would I make adjustments for baking these at altitude?
Hi Lindsay, we wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
These are pretty good, and definitely chewy. I broke up my oreos by whacking them with a rolling pin; I think next time I would take the time to use a knife so I have a little more control over the size of the pieces. Not as much cream cheese flavor as I might have expected, but I do think the sweetness of the cookie kind of reflects the sweetness of Oreo cream. They fit the bill as I was looking for an Oreo-based dessert that wasn’t pie/cake.
★★★★
This recipe worked so great! I made these for a bake sale at school and I think they will be well liked! The only thing wrong was that for some reason my cookies did not spread at all, even though I followed the recipe exactly
★★★★★
I did a classic forgot to read the directions the night before. Did not see the chilling. So I decided to make cookie bars with the same directions and ingredients but no chilling. It worked! I cooked for 20-25 minutes and they were delicious
★★★★★
I love this recipe! I made these yesterday but due to time constraints, didn’t bake them until today. They turned out yummy! The cookies were a big hit with my friends that showed up when they learned I was trying a new cookie recipe. I did put my own spin on it though. Didn’t have any Oreo cookies, but had some brownie brittle, which tastes like the crunchy part of the brownie. I also replaced the white chocolate chips with cream cheese chips and milk chocolate chips. Can you say yummy for the tummy? OMG, they were scooped up as soon as I pulled them off the pan. I love the way you Wally’s thru every step and have a video to go along with the recipes because some days I need the visual learning tool and others I can simply read thru the steps and follow the recipe. My apron is off to you Sally! Thank you so much for making me the epitome of everybodys’ gramma passing out cookies. Although when I get a gleam in my eye and pull out my pool cue, that version of me is gone and nobody wants to play any more. Guess they don’t like losing to a little ole gramma. LOL
I started a baking challenge last year, with 52 new bakes. “Cookies and Cream Cookies” were an idea my 16 year old requested, and they have been a hit, over and over again. He has asked me to make them for school events, and now I am baking multiple batches for his birthday, as he requested these instead of a cake!! These are a hit with anyone who tries them! Thank you so much!!
★★★★★
I just made these for a Christmas party at my kid’s school and they turned out great! I used red & green M&M’s in place of the white chocolate chips, and added 1/4 cup of red and green sprinkles. I also used low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel) because that’s all I had. Still turned out perfectly!
★★★★★
My boyfriend and he coworkers LOVE these cookies. I make them
Once a week because they request them. Used nutter butters today for a change up. Stay tuned!
★★★★★
There seems to be a cornstarch shortage. Will it be ok without?
Hi Cami, if you don’t have cornstarch, you can simply leave it out. No need to replace with anything– the cookies are still pretty thick and soft!
Can I roll the cookies, then chill them rolled?
Hi Liz! We find the dough is a bit too sticky to roll before chilling. But if you use a cookie scoop or prefer to scoop before chilling you can certainly do that instead!
I just wanted to know if this recipe can be baked as a cookie bar in a slice tin?
Hi Grace, Absolutely. For cookie bars we recommend a 9×13 inch pan for thin cookie bars or a 9×9 inch square pan for thicker bars. A skillet around those sizes will work too. We’re unsure of the best bake time
This recipe was so fun and easy to make! My family and friends loved it!
★★★★★
I just found this recipe and it seems like a fun try! But unfortunately cream cheese is very scarce where a live. Is cream cheese an absolute MUST in this recipe or is there any alternative I can use?
Hi Nabi, For a recipe without cream cheese in the dough, you could try our soft chocolate chip cookies or our chewy chocolate chip cookies using these add-ins (Oreos and white chocolate) instead of regular chocolate chips. Enjoy!
Hi in uk we don’t get cream cheese block how can we adjust recipe to ensure it come out nicely using tub version of cream cheese
Hi Navneeta, In the U.S. block cream cheese is very different than the tubs and is the only cream cheese that will work for baking. We have been told by readers outside the U.S. that cream cheese in a tub is different from ours and can work, but we have not tested it. Please let us know if you try!
These were great. I got a stand mixer recently and this was the first recipe I tried with it. Very easy to follow, the results were great. Mine were a little thinner and larger than the picture but I think that’s because I left the dough out for too long after refrigerating.
★★★★★
I can’t wait to try out this recipe! I have one question, do I leave the filling in the cookie or scrape it off?
Leave it in! 🙂
I love this recipe so much! The cookies turn out perfect every time. Thank you for the tips in your recipes as well they are extremely helpful!
★★★★★
Hi would browned butter work good instead of unsalted?
Hi Katrice, That change would require some testing. You can try to brown the butter then let it solidify, then cream it as we do with these brown butter chocolate chip cookies but we can’t guarantee the results.