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Do you love Oreos? This Cookies ‘n Cream Oreo Cake is FULL of chocolate and Oreo flavor. Dark Chocolate Cake filled with marshmallow buttercream and tons of Oreos! You’re going to learn how to make an Oreo cake in this post – and it’s amazing. (Also, the cake itself is egg- and dairy-free!)

Extreme Cookies 'n Cream Cake - this cake tastes like an Oreo cookie! Dark chocolate cake layers sandwiched with a marshmallow buttercream frosting and lots of crushed Oreo cookies. I made two of these in two days!


BEST Oreo Cake Recipe

I can vouch for how good this cake is because I made it twice in a week. The first time, I was going to a party and just felt like making a cake. Normally I go with cookies or brownies for a party because they’re just easier, but I was totally craving cake. Normally when I crave cake I crave vanilla. So something must have been going on with my hormones because I really wanted a CHOCOLATE cake and I wanted Oreos too.

I decided to make a rich, deep, dark chocolate cake using my favorite recipe and then sort of turn it into a giant Oreo by making a frosting that tastes like an Oreo filling. I also crammed in a bunch of Oreos because why not?

Everyone raved about it and one of the girls there actually requested it for her birthday cake the following week. This cake is proven to be delicious and tested and taste like a giant Oreo!

cookies and cream cake ingredients for the cake.

Ingredients Needed for the Cake

  • Cocoa Powder: The cake is made super dark by using Hershey’s Special Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. They sell it pretty much everywhere these days. You can use regular cocoa powder or Dutch Process but it won’t be as Oreo-like.
  • Baking Soda and Vinegar: The cake itself is also EGG-FREE and DAIRY-FREE. The rise is created by a mixture of baking soda and vinegar. I also use coffee in the cake to bring out the chocolate flavor, but you can skip that and just increase the water if you don’t want to use coffee.
  • Coffee: You can omit if you don’t do coffee, but it really just brings out the flavor of the chocolate.
  • Vegetable Oil: It’s a neutral oil that keeps the cake super moist.

How to make Oreo Cake

  1. Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
  2. Whisk hot water, coffee, oil, vinegar, and extract in a large measuring cup or bowl.
  3. Slowly stir the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring or whisking until smooth.
  4. Pour batter evenly into pans. Bake for 34-38 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean 3” from the side (the middle may still have a few crumbs stuck to the toothpick). These dome quite a bit (in an 8” pan).

Baking Pans Needed

You have choices for how you bake the cake:

cookies and cream cake ingredients for the frosting.

How to make Marshmallow Frosting

The BEST part of this cake is the filling. The frosting really does taste like the center of an Oreo cookie – sweet and fluffy! It’s a super easy frosting I like to eat with a spoon.

  • It’s made by using a combination of butter, shortening, AND marshmallow fluff, which gives it that telltale Oreo filling taste.
  • Heavy whipping cream to make it nice and fluffy.
  • Oreos: Because if you’re making an Oreo cake you need Oreos on top!

I make this a naked cake because I’m lazy, but if you double the frosting you’ll have more than enough to frost the entire thing. (The birthday cake I made was done that way.) Or frost the top of a 9×13″ or cupcakes. Just don’t forget to drown it in crushed Oreos!

Tip From Dorothy

Expert Tips

  • If you want to frost the entire cake you can double the frosting recipe. This would also be good with cream cheese frosting!
  • You can use regular unsweetened cocoa but the recipe won’t turn out as “dark”
  • If you don’t want to use coffee, just more hot water instead. Hot water is important because it helps to bloom the chocolate, increasing that chocolate flavor.
  • The cake freezes well and can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator, well wrapped with plastic or in an airtight container.
Extreme Cookies 'n Cream Cake - this cake tastes like an Oreo cookie! Dark chocolate cake layers sandwiched with a marshmallow buttercream frosting and lots of crushed Oreo cookies.

FAQ

Do you really need 1 tsp of salt in the frosting?

Yes, I think so. With the fluff and the powdered sugar this is a sweet frosting and the salt helps. Just make sure to use UNSALTED butter.

What is marshmallow fluff?

It’s an American product – like gooey melted marshmallows. You can make a sub but I’ve never tried it (find it here).

Can I skip adding the coffee?

Yes, just add another 1/2 cup hot water.

What can I use in place of shortening?

It won’t taste as much like Oreo filling, but you can do an equal sub with butter.

Can I make the frosting dairy free?

I’m not sure about the marshmallow cream, but you can use Earth’s Balance Vegan Butter Sticks for the butter and non-dairy milk for the heavy cream.

Extreme Cookies ‘n Cream Oreo Cake

4.87 from 67 votes
This Cookies 'n Cream Oreo Cake is FULL of chocolate and Oreo flavor. Dark Chocolate Cake filled with marshmallow buttercream and tons of Oreos!
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Yield 12 servings
Serving Size 1 slice

Ingredients
 

For the cake:

  • 3 cups (372g) all purpose flour
  • 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (20g) unsweetened DARK cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups (355ml) hot water
  • ½ cup (118ml) hot coffee see note
  • ¾ cup (177ml) vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting:

  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter
  • ½ cup (95g) vegetable shortening
  • 1 7 ounce jar marshmallow cream/fluff
  • 3 cups (339g) powdered sugar
  • ½-1 teaspoon salt (see note)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1-2 tablespoons (15-30ml) heavy whipping cream
  • 10 Oreos crushed
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Instructions

Make the cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 8” or 9” round cake pans. (I also like to line the bottom with parchment paper for easy removal.)
  • Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
  • Whisk hot water, coffee, oil, vinegar, and extract in a large measuring cup or bowl. Slowly stir the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring or whisking until smooth.
  • Pour batter evenly into pans. Bake for 34-38 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean 3” from the side (the middle may still have a few crumbs stuck to the toothpick). These dome quite a bit (in an 8” pan).
  • Let the cakes cool completely before removing from pans and frosting.

Make the frosting:

  • Beat butter and shortening with a hand mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Mix in fluff until smooth. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar, the add 1/2 tsp salt, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of the cream. Mix on medium speed until smooth, adding more cream as needed for consistency. Taste and add more salt if the frosting is too sweet.
  • To assemble the (naked) cake: remove layers from the pans. Level them as needed using a serrated knife. Place one cake layer on a serving plate, top with half the frosting and smooth it to the edges. Top with half the crushed Oreos. Add the second layer and repeat with the frosting and crushed cookies. Serve room temperature but store loosely covered in the refrigerator.
  • Note: to coat the cake completely with frosting, double the frosting recipe.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

  • To omit coffee, you can use 1/2 cup hot water instead.
  • In the frosting, use 1/2 teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter. Taste – if it’s too sweet add a few pinches more salt up to an additional 1/2 teaspoon. If using salted butter, reduce to 1/4 teaspoon to start. Adding salt cuts the sweetness of frosting.
  • Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder is the best one for the most “Oreo” taste, but Dutch process or black cocoa will yield similar results.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 687kcal | Carbohydrates: 97g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 621mg | Potassium: 114mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 67g | Vitamin A: 255IU | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American

Last Updated on October 27, 2023



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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72 Comments

  1. Can a non-vegan version of this be made and still come out okay? Using milk in place of the water and coffee and adding eggs? I am admittedly a little put off by using vinegar in cake. I plan on sending a cake to work with my husband on Halloween and I’d be devastated if he and his co-workers could taste the vinegar at all. Also, can extra butter be used in place of the shortening in the frosting? Thank you!

    1. I’ve never made this cake with eggs. If you don’t like a vinegar cake you can totally use your favorite chocolate box mix or cake recipe. If making it from scratch use the special dark cocoa for a more Oreo like flavor. And yes you can use all butter in the frosting!

    1. You can omit the coffee and add the 1/2 cup to the water proportion, making it 2 cups. I’ll re-word it to make it more clear!

  2. I have the same issue with forgetfulness and constantly leaving things half done, definitely not just you!
    Your cake looks amazing, your pictures are making me ridiculously hungry!

  3. I am starting to forget stuff too. I’ll walk upstairs to do something and then totally forget what I went up there to do. Then by the time I get downstairs, I finally remember but then am too lazy to upstairs again. Lazy/forgetful girl problems, I tell ya! This cake would definitely make me forget all kinds of things I was supposed to do… 😉

  4. Hello Gorgeous! Wow this cake is a stunner!

    And since the cake itself is vegan, that means you can have extra, right! 🙂 I once had to make cupcakes for a kid bday party but they had to be free of everything basically so I used a similar recipe (minus that much coffee) and was shocked at the great results that you can get from vinegar.

    I wish I could have a slice of this right now!

  5. That cake looks amazing!

    And, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t have any kids and I still forget stuff all of the time. I do the same ‘set my keys on top so I don’t forget’ trick and the same letter that needs to go in the mail will sit there all week. I sometimes resort to putting the piece of mail on TOP of my keys so I’ll have to move it to get my keys. So silly to forget stuff like that!

  6. You should see all the half-done (or 1/5 done) things at my house, just because I pick something up, get interrupted, and then forget it happened. Frustration to the max! And motherhood.
    This cake will cure it all! So amazing!!!