June 21, 2022

Incredibly Awesome Oreo Crust

What's Cookin Good Lookin - Homemade Food Ingredients - Homemade Oreo Cookies

Oreo Crust/Base

Oreos are terrific for enhancing lots of desserts. The manufactured cookies are difficult to get right, so why not make your own? It's easy!

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Prep Time 1 15

Cook Time 15

Equipment

Measuring Equipment (Teaspoon, Cup, Scale)
2 Large Bowls
Food Processor (optional, but recommended) (optional, but recommended)
Stovetop or IH Burner
Sauce Pan
Sieve (optional)
Rolling Pin
Parchment Paper

Ingredients

113 Grams Butter, Unsalted (½ Cup)
100 Grams White Sugar (½ Cup)
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
120 Grams All-Purpose Flour (1 Cup)
75 Grams Dark Cocoa Powder (¾ Cup)
½ Teaspoon Baking Soda

Instructions

Measure out your butter and allow to soften to room temperature before starting.
In a large bowl, cream together softened butter with the white sugar and salt, until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs until fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, sieve together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Blend well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix together until combined.
Turn the dough out onto your surface and push together into a flat square.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 160˚C (325˚F).
Remove the dough from the fridge, and for ease of rolling out, divide the dough into 2 (this way the dough stays cool longer and prevents the need of re-chilling later on).
To roll out the dough, place half of the dough between two sheets of parchment paper (alternatively the dough can be rolled out on a lightly floured surface – though the parchment is preferred as it prevents any additional flour from altering the color/appearance of the dark cookies).
Roll the dough between the two sheets of parchment to ½ cm (¼-inch) thickness.
Cut the dough in whatever shape you want. If you're making a cake, use the mold to get the approximate size. Do not that dough will expand a little as it cooks.
Bake in a preheated oven for 15minutes.
Remove and transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
If allowed to sit in the open air for a few hours, it will harden like a cookie.

Notes

*Will make about 3 average cake-size bases.

**Need help getting started in your kitchen? Start here.

Why In The World Would you Make an Oreo?

Usually the first question you should always ask before starting anything. What is the point of making Oreo cookies?

There are several reasons why making your own Oreo cookie might might make a lot sense.

You might only need the black cookie part, and not the cream center.

This would be especially true if you’re making base for something like a cheese cake.

You might need something built to a certain size and consistency.

Again, this would be something true if you’re making a cake. You can’t just mash up a bunch of Ores and create a solid base.

You think Oreos taste horrible.

I’m very much in this group. I used to love them and then around 2015 I felt that taste had really changed. I’m not alone. There are legions of people out there that have written and complained about this. Nabisco claims they have not altered the recipe in any way, however this many people can’t be wrong. Something is indeed different about them. I find them so unfavorable now that I won’t buy them any more. To my taste, they are more oily and cheap tasting. Both the outer cookie and the inner cream taste off, kind of like a knockoff.

Fun fact, Oreos are actually a knockoff of Hydrox cookies.

For my money, I think Newman-O’s taste the best out of all them and if I could get them in Japan I would use them for recipes that call for “Oreo” bits. Sadly, I can’t. The next most logical step is making your own.

Black As Night

A quick note about the ingredients; specifically the dark cocoa powder (also called black cocoa powder). You might be wondering if you can substitute in regular cocoa power.

To answer that I would say that you shouldn’t.

In order to achieve that deep dark black, you need to use the dark cocoa powder. Dark cocoa powder is also different from regular cocoa powder in that it’s processing removes all the fat. Because of this, it will interact with the baking soda differently.

While this might seem like an odd ball ingredient that you won’t use for anything else, that is not strictly true. You can mix it with regular cocoa powder in other recipes to create a dark cake, create black frostings, or use in other cookies to get something that is super black. It’s great for holidays like Halloween. Besides, it’s not really an expensive ingredient.