I had originally planned on posting this recipe next week, but these cookies turned out so pretty (and delicious) that I couldn’t help but share it with you guys a week early!
Brian is a fan of the holiday Oreos. He swears that they taste better than the regular ones, and has tried convincing me that the Halloween ones are the best, despite the fact that I personally think they are the same thing and taste exactly the same (except for the different designs and different colored filling)… but I don’t think he believes me.
I think it’s all mental. I think somewhere in Oreo’s headquarters dwells researchers that have conducted market research that show people are more likely to buy “new” products if they change the look of the product and make them “limited edition”, even if they keep the recipe the same.
Do you think the Halloween Oreos taste better than the regular ones?
Since Halloween is just around the corner and my local grocery store has strategically placed all these tempting Oreos right by the checkout aisles, I caved and bought myself a pack of them. I knew they would make the perfect cookie with some of the Halloween sprinkles I bought at the craft store a few weeks back.
You know I’m a sucker for all things sprinkles!
I purposely made a big batch of these cookies earlier this week, knowing that I had my one-month post-LASIK checkup on Friday, and wanted to bring a couple dozen of these for the staff at the Whiting Clinic to show my appreciation of how wonderful they have been. I hope they liked them!
If you don’t want to make so many cookies at once, you can halve the recipe… although these cookies do freeze well and it never hurts to have frozen cookie dough in case of any late night cookie emergencies. Also, you can definitely use regular Oreos for this recipe (or any flavor for that matter). And it’s definitely not limited to just Halloween sprinkles either – use your favorite kind, none at all, or mix all your favorite sprinkles together to make it one colorful cookie – the possibilities are endless.
I decided to divide the batter in half since I had two different Halloween sprinkles I wanted to use – a spooky green/purple/orange one, and a candy corn colored one… the perfect pairing with some orange cream-filled Oreos! But dividing the batter into two also resulted in a lot of “transferring of the doughs”, which would’ve been a lot easier if I had two electric mixers…
Basically you’ll be making one basic cookie dough and mixing in the add-ins separately. And trust me when I tell you that your arms will thank you if you use an electric mixer – it saves time and muscle and mixes everything better since the batter will be pretty sticky. The chopped Oreos may come apart while you mix them in and that’s totally okay! You’ll get swirls of the orange filling throughout the dough which will give the cookies a beautiful festive look.
About 1.5 hours after you chill the dough, make sure to take it out and roll them into dough balls. If you chill them for too long, the dough gets hard, making it difficult to roll. Once they’re rolled into balls, you can refrigerate them up to 3 days if you don’t plan on making them right away.
I normally prefer a thick puffy cookie rather than a thin one, but these turned out so good! They’ll look slightly puffy when you take them out of the oven, but they’ll flatten out a bit as they cool. The outer edges are slightly crunchy, but the insides are oh so soft and chewy with tons of chopped Oreo cookies laced in between each bite.
So. Frickin’. Good.
- 2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 and 1/2 cups vanilla cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- A pinch of salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup Halloween sprinkles*
- 20 Halloween Oreos, roughly chopped**
- 1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cake mix, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- 2. Using an electric stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the softened butter and sugars together on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between each addition. Then add in the vanilla extract and mix until combined, scraping down the sides in between if needed.
- 3. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gradually increase the speed to low-medium until everything is combined.
- *** If you plan on using only one kind of sprinkles, go on to Step 4 ***
- *** If you plan on using two different kinds of sprinkles, skip to Step 5. ***
- 4. Add in the sprinkles and mix on low. Then add in the chopped Oreos and mix on low until everything is evenly distributed.
- 5. Divide the batter in half (approximately is fine), and place one half of the dough in a separate bowl (we'll call this Dough #2). Add in Sprinkle #1 to the dough that is still in the mixer bowl, mix on low and then add in the chopped Oreos until combined. Remove Dough #1 into a bowl and set aside. Put Dough #2 into mixer bowl, mix in Sprinkle #2 and chopped Oreos until combined.
- 6. Cover bowl(s) with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for at least 1.5 hours. Roll dough into balls (I used a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop) and place in a tupperware, cover tightly, and refrigerate until ready to bake. Cookie dough can be refrigerated up to 3 days.
- 7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes and let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing them onto a wired cooling rack to cool completely. Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
- Makes 60 cookies
- *If you plan on using two different kinds of sprinkles like I did, you'll need 1/2 cup of each
- **If you plan on making two different batches, divide the roughly chopped Oreos into two separate bowls
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