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.
The best cookie ever! Delish!
Can I omit the cream cheese on this recipe? Will it affect my cookies or should I make the butter 1 cup?
Hi Anika, instead I recommend my soft chocolate chip cookies or my chewy chocolate chip cookies. You can use these add-ins (Oreos and white chocolate) instead of regular chocolate chips.
perfect. They were gobbled up. I left half the batch in the fridge for a week, sealed….and the other half turned out perfectly as well! I don’t even love Oreo’s as much as many do….but this is most definitely crowd pleaser, with a great texture and a nice change from standard chocolate chip! Thanks as alway
DELICIOUS! These cookies are soft and yummy and rich, and Sally makes her recipes foolproof if you follow her directions. Only change I made was to use regular semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of white based on my preference. And she’s right about chilling the dough– the cookies didn’t spread but kept their nice chunky form. Thank you, Sally!
These taste like cookies & cream ice cream… in cookie form. So good! I ran out of white chocolate chips so I used half white and half dark chocolate chips. Next time I make them I plan on using all white chocolate chips. The cookies on the first pan that went into the oven were 1.5 Tbsp of dough each, but the ones on the second pan were 2 Tbsp. I prefer the 2 Tbsp per cookie, myself. And the raw dough is the best raw cookie dough ever!!!
Brown butter update – Tried these today with brown butter! After browning the butter, I stuck it in the fridge to chill for 10-15 minutes. It was still in a liquid state when I began mixing it with the cream cheese. I did add 1 Tbsp of milk to the cookie dough to make up for the lost liquid. Next time I would probably add 1.5 Tbsp to ensure a softer cookie. They turned out delicious with the brown butter!
Hi Sally! Do you think substituting a chopped white chocolate baking bar for chips would here?
Absolutely! Anywhere between or around 4-8 ounces of chopped white chocolate would be great.
These are the best cookie I’ve ever tasted! A new staple in our household. SOOOO yummy!
These are good. Chilled for 7 hours and scooped them into smaller cookies. Made 3.5 dozen. Baked them for 12 mins and they turned out just right. They are a good cookies ‘n cream cookie. Only reason I don’t give it 5 stars is because the whole time I was eating it I was just wishing it was classic chocolate chip.
These were pretty amazing. They had a soft and perfect texture. They are super rich and delicious. A new family favorite!
Hi Sally! I’m planning on making a double batch of these so I can freeze some and ship some. I saw your tutorial on shipping cookies, super helpful! If I want to double the recipe, would you recommend making two separate batches? Or should it be ok to make one big batch? Thanks!
Hi Celeste, Doubling this recipe should be just fine. Enjoy!
My daughter and I made these last night and they came out perfect. My daughter loves soft chocolate chip cookies and I showed this recipe and she insisted we make them. We used semi-sweet morsels instead of the white chocolate chips. And of course she had to add extra chocolate chips, because one cup just wasn’t enough. We used double stuff Oreo’s that I broke up with my hands. I was a little leery about using the cream cheese, but it actually made it better. She loves that the cookies stayed soft. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. This will be replacing the store brought cookie dough she likes to use.
The taste of these cookies is amazing! The only issue I had is that they did not spread or flatten even at all like pictured. I used room temp butter/egg/cream cheese, silicone baking mat, chilled the dough, and the cookies were very thick balls that would not spread.
Try removing 2-3 Tbsp of flour next time. The less dry ingredients soaking up the fat (butter/cream cheese/egg) the more they’ll spread. Thanks for trying the recipe!
So delicious! I’ve never made cookies with cream cheese in the dough. Really wonderful.Thanks, Sally!
I made these today, and my family and I thought they were so yummy! They have a great “cookies and cream” flavor. Definitely a keeper! Some of my sons don’t care for white chocolate, so I subbed in half chocolate chips for some of the white. Thanks for another great recipe, Sally. 🙂
Hi Sally, I love baking your recipes and love sharing them with friends even more! Do you think I could ship these cookies along with the birthday cake batter cookies to a friend? I’ve read your tips on how to package cookies for mailing, but I’m wondering if the two recipes mentioned will make the trip well?
Thank you! I’m looking forward to baking this new recipe, the pictures look divine.
Absolutely! Make sure the cookies cool completely before wrapping/boxing. And definitely use my How to Ship Cookies tutorial as a guide, glad you already looked that up. Works like a charm!
These were easy and amazing! I loved the idea of adding cream cheese to the cookie dough. It made the crumb very delicious! I baked them for 14 minutes because 12 left them slightly under baked. I made homemade Oreo’s instead of store bought #1 We can’t go to the store for just one thing during this time #2 I was to lazy to go to the store #3 I really love making homemade brand food!!! Could you please make homemade Twinkies or Ding Dongs? I just want to say THANK YOU soooo much for making reliable recipes! Thank you for preparing recipes for us even though you are pregnant and probably don’t want to. I am praying for you and your baby. (I say boy BTW!)
For anyone who wants to know what Homemade Oreo recipe I used: seededatthetable.com/diy-homemade-oreo-cookies/
These were good but maybe a little less flour! 🙂
Just made a batch of these and they’re perfection! Double stuffed oreos are the way to go with these!
Cannot wait to try these. I’ve been making your cookie cake on repeat all quarantine, it makes the best birthday surprise! I’ve been adding crushed oreos to the batter and smashing some on top.. so so good! I’m sure this is even more fun!
Made these yesterday as part of a graduation gift (with your sugar cookies decorated in graduation theme!). They are so good! They stayed nice and thick, and I love the texture that the cream cheese adds. Can’t wait to play around with different add ins!
Hi Sally, these where AMAZING! I made them yesterday and the whole family really enjoyed them. I will definitely be making these delicious cookies again, Thanks Sally!
Hi Sally! These look delicious! Can you give me an idea about how big you cut the Oreos? In fourths? I really want my cookies to look like yours.
Hi L, yes exactly. I cut them in half, then cut each in half. So they were quartered. Some will break as you cut them, but you can still throw in the larger broken chunks.
These look amazing! I just happen to have 4 oz of cream cheese left over from another baking project, so I know what I’ll be making next!
I have been trying to incorporate browned butter in all my cookie recipes since I tried one of your brown butter recipes (I’m addicted now haha). Since this recipe calls for softened butter, do you have any recommendations for how the other ingredients might need to change if I browned the butter?
Hi Joanna, thank you! 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 I can’t guarantee the results.
Thanks for the response, Sally! I’ll test out the recipe with brown butter when I get the chance and report back.
Oh man! I have this dough chilling in the fridge, it sounds so amazing, but I just realized that I put in double the cream cheese amount. ♀️ I don’t bake with cream cheese that often so just assumed it was a whole block! Any idea about how I might save it or what the outcome would be? You’re my patron saint of baking, thank you so much!
Hi Marla, the cookies will likely over-spread. You can try working in more flour, but I can’t guarantee the results. Or try baking in a 9×9 inch or 9×13 baking pan as bars. I’m unsure of the best bake time.
Do you think this recipe would work well for cookie bars?
Definitely! I recommend a 9×13 inch pan for thin cookie bars or a 9×9 inch square pan for thicker bars. I’m unsure of the best bake times.
I tried the chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe and LOVED it so I really want to try this too! But for a lot of recipes, it seems like a hand/stand mixer is required, including this one. Do you have advice for those who want to bake these but don’t have a mixer? Hand whisk? Or food blender/processor okay for steps 3 and 4?
Hi Veronica! You can cream the ingredients by hand in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. It takes a bit of time and arm muscle. You can also use Oreos and white chocolate chips in my chewy chocolate chip cookies if you’d like! I do not recommend adding cream cheese to that dough though.
Hi Sally,
Do you think I could add marshmallows instead of the white chocolate chips ? Thanks
Hi CC, marshmallows have the tendency of disappearing in baked goods– they completely evaporate. For this reason, I don’t recommend it. Try my toasted s’mores chocolate chip cookies though– marshmallows pressed on top!
These look delicious! Unfortunately one of my kids hates cheese and can usually detect it even in things like this. I still want to make this, but would like to reduce the amount of cream cheese. If I wanted to use maybe only 2oz of cream cheese instead of 4, is there another ingredient I would increase in order to make up for this change?
Hi Kristy, I would make my cookbook version I mention if you have the paperback copy. If not, I don’t recommend replacing with butter. Simply leave out the extra 2 Tbsp of cream cheese.
Can I just add the cream cheese to your soft chocolate chip cookies recipe to make it creamy? If yes, how much should I add?
I recommend using this cookie recipe as the base, skipping the white chocolate chips and Oreos, then adding 1-1.5 cups (180-270g) of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
These look so yummy!! If I want to freeze the cookie dough, do I have to chill them, then scoop and freeze? Or can I just scoop and freeze sans-chill? I’m guessing the latter is fine (bc I’m freezing them anyways) but want to make sure there isn’t some crazy cookie marinating science I’m missing out on by skipping the fridge step!
Hi Daphne, it’s best to chill softer cookie doughs (such as this one) before rolling into balls for baking OR for freezing. Here’s my detailed and helpful post for How to Freeze Cookie Dough if you’re interested!