The combination of crushed Oreos and vanilla cake in this high altitude cookies and cream cake recipe is simply irresistible. The cake is soft, moist and buttery, speckled with flecks of cookies, and the fluffy buttercream is perfectly salted to balance the sweetness. This is a cake that gets even better the second day, as the cookies soften from the moisture of the cake. You’ll love this delicious cake!
You might also love these cookies and cream cupcakes, cookies and cream ice cream, and no bake cookies and cream cheesecake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. You’ll need a mixer to whip the buttercream, of course, but the cupcake batter comes together easily with just a bowl and whisk.
Milk and Cookies Flavor. If you love Oreos dunked in milk, or the creaminess of cookies and cream ice cream, then you’ll adore this Oreo cake recipe!
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Oreos. You don’t need name-brand Oreos, of course, any chocolate sandwich cookie will do for this Oreo cake recipe.
- Cake Flour. Although you can use all-purpose flour, cake flour makes a lighter, fluffier cake since it has a lower percentage of protein.
- Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
- Baking Powder. Leavens the cake batter so it rises.
- Coarse Kosher Salt. A pinch of salt in baked goods enhances the flavors and balances the sweetness.
- Eggs + Egg Whites. The eggs add structure to the cake, and a few extra egg whites.
- Buttermilk. The acidity and richness of buttermilk makes a soft, moist and tender cake.
- Unsalted Butter + Vegetable Oil. You get both flavor and moisture by using a combination of melted butter and oil.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, milk, melted butter, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk for 10-15 seconds until well combined.
- Briefly fold in the crushed and chopped cookies, being careful not to over-mix. You should have streaks of crumbs, but if you mix them in too much, your cake batter will turn gray.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake on the center oven rack for about 25-30 minutes, until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester comes out clean.
- Set the pans on a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt and mix until combined.
- Add the vanilla and beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the milk only if needed for desired consistency.
- Gently fold in the crushed Oreos, taking care not to over-mix, or the frosting will turn gray.
- When the cakes are cool, run a knife around the edges and remove from the pans. Set one cake layer on a cake board or pedestal. Stack and fill the cakes with the buttercream, then frost all over with a thin crumb coat of buttercream. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set the crumb coat.
- Frost the cake with a final layer of buttercream. If you like, decorate the top of the cake with Oreos and piped swirls of buttercream, using tip 1M.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use any type of Oreos (name brand or generic), hard, crunchy chocolate sandwich cookie or chocolate wafer cookies. I would not use chocolate graham crackers.
This is really up to you. The filling is so sweet, that I decided not to use it, and I finely ground just the cookie part to add a speckled look to my cake and frosting. But you can certainly chop up the whole cookies into large chunks and add those to your cake batter.
I used Tip 1M. If piping the buttercream, be sure the cookies are ground very finely, since large chunks will clog the piping tip. To decorate your cake, you should position the Oreos on the cake first, then pipe the swirls of buttercream in between the cookies.
Please find my cookies and cream cupcakes recipe here.
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Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Cookies and Cream Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 ¼ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 large eggs
- 3 egg whites
- 1 ½ cups whole milk, room temperature
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 chocolate sandwich cookies, frosting removed, finely crushed
- 5 chocolate sandwich cookies, roughly chopped
Buttercream
- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp meringue powder
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-4 tbsp milk, only if needed for consistency
- 5 chocolate sandwich cookies, frosting removed, finely crushed
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray the bottoms of three 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick baking spray.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, milk, melted butter, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk for 10-15 seconds until well combined.
- Briefly fold in the crushed and chopped cookies, being careful not to over-mix. You should have streaks of crumbs, but if you mix them in too much, your cake batter will turn gray.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake on the center oven rack for about 25-30 minutes, until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester comes out clean.
- Set the pans on a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt and mix until combined.
- Add the vanilla and beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the milk only if needed for desired consistency.
- Gently fold in the crushed Oreos, taking care not to over-mix, or the frosting will turn gray.
- When the cakes are cool, run a knife around the edges and remove from the pans. Set one cake layer on a cake board or pedestal. Stack and fill the cakes with the buttercream, then frost all over with a thin crumb coat of buttercream. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set the crumb coat.
- Frost the cake with a final layer of buttercream. If you like, decorate the top of the cake with Oreos and piped swirls of buttercream, using tip 1M.
Video
Notes
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/
It looks utterly beautiful and delicious, and your tip about allowing the cookies to soften a bit in the cake the day before is really helpful – I love the slight softness they get when they sit around a bit so this texture would be delicious in a cake too
I LOVED this cake and it was pretty easy to put together. I took it to work and my co-workers went crazy over it. The only thing different I did to save time was to use store-bought frosting.
Wondering if you are high altitude or if the recipe works everywhere?
I’ve developed my recipes for high altitude. Please see my FAQs for adjusting recipes for various altitudes: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/
Oh My Goodness! I am currently making my 6th one this month alone! I work as an at home nursing assistant and my employers can’t get enough of this dessert 🙂 So good and fancy looking yet so easy to make, Just about have this recipe memorized!
Riyanna
Wow, six times in a month!! I'm so thrilled everyone loves it so much. 🙂
Can I make this cake as a 13 × 9 inch sheet cake instead?
The volume of batter should work just fine in a 9×13 inch baking pan.
Can I use the all purpose flour and cornstarch trick here to replace the cake flour?
It should be fine!
Can oil be replaced with melted butter?
Generally, yes, that works just fine in cakes, although an oil-based cake tends to be lighter and more moist, while butter-based cakes are a bit more dense and dry since the butter firms up as the cakes cool.
I tried this baking at sea level and it came out tasting great, but just a little dense. Any recommendations to adjust for a little lighter result, at my low altitude? Thanks!
Deneyce, since this is a high altitude recipe, please see my FAQs for information on adjusting recipes for various altitudes: https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/
Love the ease of making this cake. I used 3 round cake pans, 8 inch. My cakes came out and were only about 1 inch high. Total cake was no higher than a 2 layer cake. Any ideas on what I did wrong? I am at 5,453 feet above sea level.
Hmm, it sounds like your cakes didn’t rise enough, so I’d check to make sure your baking powder isn’t expired, as well as test the temperature of your oven to be sure it’s calibrated correctly.
I made this for my husband’s birthday and it was a huge success. I subbed 1/2 C of the buttermilk for 1/2 cup of brewed coffee, cooled. That little bit of espresso flavor really comes through, and was delicious!
Great recipe my only recommendation is to do 1.5 times the recipe for 8inch cakes. I love at high altitude and make 1inch cakes for my business and the single recipe barely reaches the quarter way point prior to baking. I prefer to have my batter reach the halfway point to ensure a full layer.
I made this as a half sheet, cut in half to make 2 layers. I made it several days in advance and froze it. It retained its moisture when thawed. I really like the combination of oil and butter to optimize texture and taste.