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 (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 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: You only need 4 ounces (113g) of cream cheese, so use half of an 8-ounce brick 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.
I love this recipe so much and want to try to make a chocolate mint version. I want to add cocoa powder to the base and was wondering how much you would add and how much flour to subtract? I’m sure I’ll have to play around with the measurements but I figured I’d ask your opinion first since you came up with this awesome recipe to begin with!
Hi Andrea! Cocoa powder can be a finicky ingredient so unfortunately its not always as easy as swapping out some of the flour with cocoa. How about using our Double Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe and using crushed mint Oreos instead of the chips? Let us know if you give it a try!
I’ve done this recipe already 3 times and I loved it and family and friends love it!!! Huge question.. what happens or how will the cookie come out if I forgot to add the sugars after combining the cream cheese and butter?? I added the sugar after adding the flour and whipped it for a bit and then dough felt elasticy.. I didn’t add the the chocolate or strawberries because I feel it’s going to come out totally wrong.. but I’m chilling the dough and just curious if this question could be answered..
Hi Anabell! Are you referring to our strawberries & cream cookies? We’re not sure exactly how they’ll turn out, but likely not as intended. The base of the cookies is butter creamed with sugar, so you’ll be missing that crucial step.
Thank you so much for replying so fast!! Yeah I figured, was hoping it’s happened to somebody and knew the outcome.. thank you
This reminded of how good your cookies & cream cookies recipe is. I wonder if this cookies and cream cookie recipe would work if i bake in a 9in pan for a cookie cake? how long should it take?
Hi AEG, For cookie bars or a cookie cake we recommend a 9×13 inch pan for thin cookie bars or a 9×9 inch square pan for thicker bars. A skillet or 9 inch pan would work too. We’re unsure of the best bake times.
I loved the cookies but the dough was really hard to mix with the hand mixer and they came out a little dry. Any advice for next time? Im not a baker, so I’m sure I messed something up, just not sure what
Hi Meghan, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured, which can make the dough/cookies tough and dry. Over baking (even by just a minute or two!) can also dry out cookies. This post has all our helpful cookie baking tips, too. Hope this helps for next time!
I made these cookies today, hoping for a soft, chewy interior. I was not disapointed! These are fabulous, just what I have been looking for in a chocolate chip cookie. I substituted all semi-sweet chips for the oreos/white chips, using 12 ounce total. I’d cut back to 10 ounces next time. I can never have too much chocolate, but my husband thought they were a bit over the top. However, they were delicious! A little crunch on the edgea, but soft, almost gooey chewy middles. I thought the cream cheese would give them a funky taste, but no! I just have one question, Sally. These tasted a bit metallic to me, I would attribute that to the baking soda. Your recipes seem to use a lot more baking soda than I see when comparing to similar recipes on the internet. . Next time I make these, I am going to cut back on the baking soda and see how they turn out. But – thank you for a great recipe! YUM!!!!
Hi Janet, we’re so glad you loved these cookies! Was your baking soda expired by chance? A fresh box may help, but feel free to try reducing it a bit, too. The cookies may not have as much rise. Thanks again for giving these a try!
Cookies are delicious
My family and coworkers all enjoyed these cookies. However; we all agreed there is just something missing and we can’t figure out what. I followed the recipe to a T and they tasted kinda bland….. I’m not sure what I did wrong 🙁
I’m confused in the ingredients list it says to use 4oz of cream cheese a full block. A full block is 8oz at my store.
Hi Derek! You need 4 oz (half a block) of block-style cream cheese.
I make these cookies for my grandson. They are always on his Xmas cookie list. I am going to freeze the dough this year and was wondering if they are considered a drop cookie? I watched your video on how to freeze cookies. It would be helpful if you would consider adding this info to your recipes for bakers like me!
Hi Terry, yes, these are considered a drop cookie! So glad to hear they’re an annual favorite.
The cookies and cream cookies are so good! Can I make them gluten free with almond flour?
Hi Caron, we’re so glad you love these! We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free substitutes, but please let us know if you do!
Hi! Caron!
I bake only using gluten free flour – mainly using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 and there is no difference. I don’t even tell people they are G-F, because some people who are not understanding what is gluten, have a mind set, food will taste bad. Surprise!! It tastes no different and they LOVE the baked items and ask for more.
I am going to start using King Arthur’s brand of G-F flour, only because of costs. I’ve used their AP flour, which is great, so I imagine their G-F is just as good as Bob’s
I will be making these this weekend for a friend ‘s birthday and my puppers groomers; I like bringing food to their groomers! They love it!
dj