Almost Oreos™ - Home Made Oreo™ Cookies are just the cookie for Halloween. Dark as a moonless night far away from the city lights, these cookies are easily made and taste deeply of a chocolate oreo™. Black cocoa is the secret ingredient that makes these cookies taste just like oreos™!
An ingenious method for stamping them comes from King Arthur's blog where they posted Faux-Reos and from where I took the inspiration for these cookies. To make these cookies as black as night black cocoa powder is used. I used Black Onyx cocoa. This cocoa has been dutched to the extreme. It can be found on Amazon as well as other places online.
The plain chocolate cookies are almost addictive in their crispiness and flavor. In fact, I thought they tasted just like the Oreo™ chocolate cookie.
Baking gets better when you subscribe to receive this PDF on getting the most out of baking including information on equipment, ingredients and baking equipment.
Other sandwiched cookies your sure to enjoy include: Serbian Walnut Cookies, Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, Viennese Whirl Cookies, Langue de Chat, Dulce de Leche Cookies, and Peppermint Ravioli Cookies.
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What is Black Cocoa
According to Savory Spice, “This cocoa powder has been alkalized to the extreme, producing a dark, purplish black cocoa that makes for an impressive black-as-coal baked good. This extreme alkalization neutralizes the natural bitterness, removing some of its chocolate flavor and a lot of its butterfat(10-12%)." I disagree that some of the chocolate flavor is lost - I find it to be concentrated.
While many cut the black cocoa powder with Dutch Cocoa, I think that dilutes the intensity of the black color and flavor and don't see a need to. Dutch cocoa may be substituted but it won't taste the same.
Why You'll Want to Make These Cookies
- They taste just like Oreos™
- The cookie are easy to make
- They'll wow your family and your friends
- They have a bold flavor
- They are perfect for snacking or giving as a gift
- They are definitely a different cookie
Recipe Ingredients
Almost Oreo™ Cookies
FRONT ROW: Salt, vanilla extract
MIDDLE ROW: Unsalted butter, and egg
BACK ROW: All-purpose flour, black cocoa, granulated sugar
Filling
FRONT ROW: Unsalted butter, vanilla extract
BACK ROW: Powdered sugar
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients and instructions.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1. Sift together the flour, black cocoa and salt. Set aside. Step 2. Place the softened butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat the butter and sugar together until light. Step 3. Add the egg and vanilla, beat to combine. If it curdles increase the speed of the mixer and continue beating. Don't be concerned if it is still curdled. See my post, How to Avoid Curdled Cake Batter. Add the flour mixture and beat to mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. Refrigerate the dough for about 1 ½ hours to firm up or up to several days. Step 4. Using a #60 disher/scooper or a tablespoon of dough per cookie, scoop the dough about 3 cookies at a time Roll them between your hands into balls and place them 3 across and 5 down on the prepared baking sheets. So not shape too many balls at once or they will soften to the point of not being able to be embossed.
Step 5. To emboss the cookies, dip the end of a food processor plunger into granulated sugar and flatten the balls to about ⅛" thickness. The first couple of cookies may stick to the plunger. Just carefully peel hem away. Chill them briefly if necessary. As the plunger gets sticky, the sugar will adhere to it and not to the cookie; simply wipe, re-dip and continue embossing. Step 6. If the balls are too cold they will splay at the edges. Step 7. Let them sit for a minute or so and they will be fine. If they do splay they can be re-rolled. And even if they do, they'll taste just as good. Step 8. After the cookie are baked, cool them. Match them for size and shape and turn 30 upside down. Put your less attractive cookies on the bottom. Using a #60 disher/scooper or 1 tablespoon measure, drop a ball of buttercream in the middle of these 30 cookies. Place the mate, right side up on top of the buttercream and gently press down to bring the buttercream to the edge of the cookie. Let them sit at room temperature so the buttercream can set up.
Recipe FAQ'S
Because it is the same cocoa used in oreos and gives it that distinct taste.
Black cocoa has been Dutched to the extreme which means it is treated with an alkaline solution that turns it black resulting in very dark cocoa powder with an intense chocolate flavor and aroma. Dutched cocoa is also treated with an alkaline solution but not to the extreme of black cocoa
They grow exclusively within 20 degrees of the Equator because they need hot, slightly wet weather.
More delicious cookies
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Almost Oreos™ with Black Onyx Cocoa
Ingredients
Almost Oreos Chocolate Cookies
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (175 grams)
- ¾ cup black cocoa* (65 grams)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (225 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- granulated sugar as needed
- *Dutch coca can be used if necessary but the color, taste, and crispness will not be the same.
Filling for the Cookies
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar (285 grams)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (114 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- gel food coloring
Instructions
Almost Oreos™ Chocolate Cookies
- Line several half sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- Sift the flour, cocoa, and salt together. Set aside.
- Beat the butter and granulated sugar together until light. Add the egg and vanilla, beating to combine. If it curdles, increase the speed of the mixer and continue beating. Don't worry if remains curdled. See my post How to Avoid Curdled Batter.
- Add the flour mixture and beat to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.
- Refrigerate the dough for about 1 ½ hours or up to 3 days. If hard, let it sit at room temperature to make it scoopable.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Using a #60 disher/scooper or a tablespoon of dough per cookie, scoop the dough about 3 cookies at a time. Roll between your hands into balls and place them 3 across and 5 down on the prepared baking pans.
- Do not shape too many balls at once or they will soften to the point of not being able to be embossed. To emboss them, dip the end of a food processor plunger into granulated sugar and flatten the balls to about ⅛" thickness.The first couple of cookies may stick to the plunger. Just carefully peel them away. Chill briefly to firm them if necessary. As the plunger gets sticky the sugar will adhere to it and not to the cookie; simply wipe, re-dip, and continue embossing. If you are not embossing them, flatten them with the bottom of a glass, dipping it in sugar as above.
- If the balls are too cold they will splay at the edges. Let them sit for a minute or so and they will be fine. It doesn't matter if they splay because they will taste just as good.
- Place the cookies 3 across and 5 down on the sheet pans.
- Double pan and bake for 20 to 22 minutes until completely set with no soft spots. It is very important to double pan or the cookies will burn on the bottom.
- Yield: About 60 cookies.
Filling for the Cookies
- Place the sugar, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of a mixer and beat until combined. Continue beating to increase the volume and make it fluffy. If tinting more than one color, divide the filling and stir in the color. If tinting the entire batch, add it at the end of beating.
- Match the cookies by size and shape and turn 30 upside down. Put the less attractive cookies on the bottom. Using a #60 disher/scooper or 1 tablespoon measure, drop a ball of buttercream in the middle of one cookie.
- Place another cookie, right side up, on top of the buttercream and gently press down to bring the butter cream to the edge of the cookie. If the buttercream is too stiff to move out, add a bit of milk to loosen it and test on another cookie. If too loose, add powdered sugar to tighten it. Continue with all of the cookies.
- Let them sit at room temperature so the buttercream can set up. Store them in an airtight container where they will last for a week.
- Yield: 30 sandwiched cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
MKQ says
I’ve always thrown away the middle of the Oreo; so gross, way too sweet.
I’m excited to try this recipe it will be so much better!
Helen S Fletcher says
Indeed it will.
Daphne says
Sounds easy and good!
Eileen Murphy says
I’ve made this recipe multiple times. It is really a wonderful cookie. I’ve used the filling recipe in numerous other cookies as well.
Helen S Fletcher says
Hi Eileen- I was amazed at the difference the black cocoa made. Loved that you make them.