Oreo Cake
This easy oreo cake recipe is made in a 9×13 inch pan and is moist, fluffy, and loaded with oreos for the ultimate oreo birthday cake! There’s nothing better than a single layer cookies and cream cake topped with oreo frosting! No special equipment or skills required for this oreo sheet cake.
Ryan sent me a text around 9am saying how his co-workers were commenting how much they liked this oreo cake. I sent a text back saying.. cake at 9am? And he responded with.. it’s already gone!
There you have it, this cookies and cream sheet cake is a crowd favorite!
This recipe is a take on our cookies and cream cupcakes – I doubled the recipe and made it in a 9×13 inch pan. You know I love a good layered cake, but layer cakes aren’t only a time commitment, there can be a bit of a learning curve in the frosting process.
So I wanted to share this recipe as a 9×13 inch cake so anyone can make it! No special skills required.
I’m intentionally adding more “sheet cake” recipes to our collection. I think of a sheet cake as any cake that is made in a single pan – that could be an 8×8, 9×13, or 10.5×15.5 inch pan.
Sheet cake recipes are easy and quick, something you could make and frost in under 2 hours. Plus, a lot of that time is not active time, it includes the time the cake needs to bake and cool.
What’s the Difference Between Oreo Cake and Cookies and Cream Cake?
Nothing! They are the same cake – both use oreo chocolate wafer cookies. Oreo is simply a brand name that popularized the cookies and cream cookie we all know and love.
Ingredients
- unsalted butter: makes the cake tender and helps with leavening
- granulated sugar: adds sweetness and flavor
- egg whites: binds the cake together by providing structure
- sour cream: adds moisture and creaminess
- milk: add moisture
- vanilla extract: adds flavor
- all purpose flour: flour is necessary to build structure
- baking soda: helps to leaven and lift the batter, reacts with the sour cream
- salt: just a pinch to balance the sweetness and enhances the other flavors of the cake
- crushed oreos: necessary for a birthday oreo cake!
Cookies and Cream Frosting
- unsalted butter: provides structure for the frosting
- vanilla extract: adds flavor
- powdered sugar: adds sweetness, flavor and structure
- finely blended oreos: adds that cookies and cream flavor we all love
How to Make Oreo Cake
- In a mixing bowl combine the butter and sugar, beat using an electric mixer, 1-2 minutes until fluffy.
- Add in the egg whites, beating with mixer.
- Add in the sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat lightly with the electric mixer.
- In a separate mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients a few spoonfuls at a time.
- Add in the crushed oreos. Mix until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 40-44 minutes.
Total Time Required
- 10 minutes to prep the batter
- 45 minutes to bake the cake
- 1 hour, at least, to cool the cake
- 15 minutes to make the oreo frosting and frost the cake
For an extra fancy presentation, after I evenly spread the cookies and cream frosting over the cake, I lightly sprinkled oreo crumbs over the cake. Then I cut the cake into squares and in the center of each piece I added a buttercream swirl and a mini oreo.
Tips for Making Cake
- Properly measure the all purpose flour using the spoon and sweep method.
- Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until they are combined. Over mixing could lead to dry, dense cake.
- In the oreo frosting recipe, it calls for 1 cup of finely blended oreos. I put oreos into my blender and blended them into “oreo flour”.
- To help create clean cut lines when cutting the cake, after you frost the cake put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. This will help the buttercream harden so it isn’t as messy when you get the cake. I also wipe my knife clean after each cut. That really helps with clean cut lines.
- Store this cake covered on the counter.
More Oreo Desserts
- No Bake Oreo Pie
- Easy Oreo Cupcakes
- Oreo Cheesecake
- Oreo Ice Cream
- No Bake Oreo Cheesecake
- Oreo Angel Food Cake
Oreo Cake
Ingredients
Oreo Cake
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, 1 cup
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- ½ cup milk, I used skim
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup crushed oreos
Oreo Frosting
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, 1 1/2 cups
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup finely blended oreos
To top the cake
- Oreo crumbs and mini oreos
Instructions
Oreo CAKE
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. Spray a 9×13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a mixing bowl combine the butter and sugar, beat using an electric mixer, 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Add in the egg whites, mixing with the mixer about 30 seconds. Add in the sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat lightly with the electric mixer. In a separate mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients a few spoonfuls at a time. Add in the crushed oreos. Mix until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the pan and spread evenly.
- Bake for 40-44 minutes or until a few moist crumbs remain on a toothpick when inserted into the center. Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the frosting. I baked my cake in a glass pan, which is slower to heat up, meaning the baking time for a glass pan is longer than it would be for a metal pan. Those of you who have made this recipe in a metal pan are reported that 30 minutes was a good bake time for a metal pan. Remember, every oven and pan is different!
Oreo Frosting
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract. Begin to add the powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time, mixing by hand. Continue adding powdered sugar until the frosting no longer looks wet and tastes good to you. Add in the finely blended oreos (I like to call it "oreo flour"). Then I use my electric mixer one last time to make sure the powdered sugar is really incorporated and ready to go. If the frosting becomes too thick, add a dash of milk or heavy cream.
TO ASSEMBLE
- Spread the buttercream on top of the cake. Be sure to reserve some buttercream for swirls to top the cake if you’d like.
- For an extra fancy presentation, after I evenly spread the cookies & cream buttercream over the cake, I lightly sprinkled oreo crumbs on the top. Then I cut the cake into squares and in the center of each piece, I added a buttercream swirl and a mini oreo.
How did you know this is exactly what I’ve been craving? Once it’s cool enough in my kitchen to turn the oven on, I’m making this. Thank you for another great recipe! I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Hi could you advise if your measurements in cups are American or UK metrics? I googled and they all give me different permutations. It is also different for sugar and flour and cream.
All measurements are American.
The ingredients for the buttercream call for vanilla but the instructions don’t mention putting it in or when. Any advice?
Also, is there a way to make the cake less dense even if mixing per your instructions (gently, not over mixing etc)?
Hi Stephanie! Thanks for pointing out the vanilla extract – I fixed it! As for not over mixing, mix just until the flour is incorporated. You just don’t want to beat, and beat the batter after everything is mixed in.
Why when I go to print the picture is not on the recipe?
Hi Christi! We decided to not include a photo when printing the recipe as to not use up more printer ink!
Wanting to make this into a multi layer round cake. Is there anything that I should change about the recipe to make that successful?
What measurement is stick of butter? How many grams/ounces?
I really like this recipe! thanks!
Usually 4 oz.
Hello Beth! I would love to make this cake. Please, what can I use as a substitute for sour cream? As sour cream is not available where am based.
Greek yogurt
WHAT SUBSTITUTES FOR SOUR CREAM W/RECIPE AND DO YOU HAVE TO REFRIGERATE BEFORE SERVING AND HOW MANY DAYS IN ADVANCE WILL IT KEEP?
What tip did you use to top the cake off with?
The swirl is using the wilton 1M tip!
Hi when you refer to stick what measurement does this consist of?
1 stick or 1/2 cup butter is equal to 4 ounces, or 113 grams.
Can this recipe be used for cake Pops
Yep! Sounds like it would be delicious.
Can you use the oreo “breadcrumb” for the recipe or is it better to blend actual oreo’s?
Hi Laurie! I like to blend the whole oreo because it saves time from scraping all the cream out ? but either would work!
Hi there, can you tell me how many cups of batter this makes?
Hi Dana! I haven’t measured it in cups, but if I had to take a guess, I would say 4-6.
Can you double this recipe and use a 12×17 half sheet pan from Gygi?
Hi is this recipe good for high altitude baking or do I need to do a minor adjustment(we live in Denver)? Thank you
Hi Nickolas! I’ve never had to adjust my baking for high altitude – perhaps google and see what comes up!
Hello I love this recipe thanks for sharing! I need to make a half sheet cake with This recipe what measurements of ingredients would I need to use please?
Thank you!
I baked this at 350 for 35 min, then turned the oven off and left it 5 more min. Any longer and it would have been very dry or even burnt! I use an oven thermometer so I know the oven setting isn’t ‘off’.
Hi Julie! Every oven is different. Looks like you baked it for 40 minutes total – just like I recommended in the recipe.
thinking the bake time is a typo? You’d burn this to a crisp at 40-44 min! Maybe 20-24?
Hi Bruce! The baking time is correct. There is a lot of batter in that 9×13 inch pan.
Hi,
I baked this in a 9×13 metal pan and it took 15 minutes less so 30 minutes total. Just a heads up!
Thanks for reporting back! Yep, that’s what you should expect for a metal pan, they heat up more quickly than glass, meaning the baking time is shorter! I’ll make a note in the recipe about that.
Do you beat the egg whites before mixing them in?
Hi,
Any alternative for Eggs? My kids have egg allergies.
My friend has a daughter who has an egg allergy and she swears by replacing the eggs with applesauce! I would google how much applesauce to substitute for the eggs.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was looking for an easy but tasty cookies and cream cake to make and this was absolutely perfect!
I had to substitute parkay for the unsalted butter for the cake as I didn’t have enough unsalted butter lol and used oat milk instead of dairy milk and it still came out great! Very moist and delicious!
What are all the measurements in grams please?
How would you store it is baking it for a birthday cake next day. Would you cover the cake with foil?
Hi Marissa! Yes, either cover the cake with a lid or foil.
Do you whip egg whites first?
Hi Lauri! As the recipe states, beat the butter and sugar first, then add in the egg whites (not pre-whipped), then beat together.
Can we do this without an electric mixer?
Hi Marie! Do you have a hand mixer? It’s important to beat the butter and sugar together well.
Can you use a 9 inch round pan instead of a 9×13?
I would suggest splitting the batter between two 9 inch pans. There will be too much batter for just one pan.
I made two of these cakes for the girls who have birthdays on the same day. The cake is absolutely to die for. My son is picky and he took seconds. Instead of one cup flour, I used a box of vanilla pudding mix which amounted to just over half cup then topped that off with the flour. Bake time in a metal pan was just over 30 minutes. I used the oreo cream filling frosting recipe which is 1/2 C butter and 1/2 C shortening, 3-4 C powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Topped with mini oreos, cookies and cream candy bars and hugs.
If I wanted to make this into a round 4” mini 2 layer cake, do you know how that would change the baking time?
Very dense cake, unfortunately. Some measurement must be off, I followed the recipe with no variations.
The buttercream was way too buttery before adding the crushed oreo’s, at least that was just for a quick decoration.
For the crushed oreos, are you using the whole cookie or removing the filling?
The whole cookie with the filling!
could we get fine oreo crumbs from a blender
Yes! A blender works great for that!
Made this for my son’s 13th birthday as he loves oreos. Made in a glass pan and baked for 44 minutes as recipe suggested. A toothpick in the center came out clean and edges were turning golden brown so thought is was done. As cake cooled, the center sunk. It was raw in the middle. We tried to salvage some by eating the outside which was done but super dense. My daughter and I made this together and found difference between when to hand mix and when to use the mixer between the written directions and the videos – very confusing. Also the order of adding ingredients was different between written directions and videos. In written directions it said to stir in egg yolks with a spatula so we did but it was kind of lumpy and didn’t fully mix. For this reason I mixed extra when adding dry ingredients so we wouldn’t have lumps. I’m assuming it caused the denseness. Also, the video doesn’t show much sour cream going in but the written recipe asks for 1.5 cups – seems like a lot but followed recipe anyway hoping it would turn out. This was disappointing. Needs more clarity between videos and written directions.
Hi Jenny! I’m sorry to hear your experience with our recipe wasn’t stellar. The video does accurately follow the written recipe, including the amount of sour cream. I will update the recipe to reflect that I used my mixer to beat in the egg whites. It’s okay if there are lumps in the final batter – it’s kind of like when you make a cake from a box mix, there’s little clumps.
Hi Beth
Thanks for the recipe.
How many days does the Oreo cake stay fresh and moist?
Can I bake it 2 days before my sons party?
For the best and freshest cake, I would recommend baking it the day of. The day before the party would be okay, but I don’t recommend 2 days before!
It turned out amazing! Thanks for the recipe. Made it for my daughter’s birthday and everyone thought I bought it from a store.
I want to do two 9in round cakes, how long would you recommend baking them for?