I don’t know when it happened, but the older I get, the more dangerous it is to buy Oreos. Dangerous because I can easily eat a whole row of them 2 cookies at a time over a day. I used to only eat them with milk, but these days I don’t discriminate. To try to make things a little better, I have been buying organic chocolate sandwich cookies, as they are called in the store like perhaps the organic ingredients will help make this habit easier to swallow (pardon the pun).

In any case, these cookies are neither more healthy than the original, or more organic, but I do think I can say that they are more delicious, or I guess, equally as delicious. The one downside is that you can’t put these in a bowl and eat them with milk like cereal like I feel like I did once with mini Oreos. I do not regret that decision and I think I want to do it again sometime. But I am getting sidetracked, let’s get back to the cookies at hand.

So what could make these chocolate sandwich cookies even better? Use them to make NEW and IMPROVED sugar cookies. Then you can have the flavors you love, in a new form, and you don’t have to feel guilty for eating all those Oreos. You just have to hold yourself back from eating all of these new cookies. And let’s not forget that these sugar cookies require no skills for decorating and are super quick to frost. Take them to your friends and let them think you are a culinary goddess.

If you have an Oreo lover in your life, these cookies are a must. They are a true winner. I love to store them in the fridge and eat them chilled, and it takes my kids longer to find them. I don’t know how long you can store them in the fridge for, but if they last you longer than 5 days in your fridge, I applaud your self-restraint.

They use only about 6-8 Oreos, so you have plenty left to dip in milk (on a fork, you know the fork trick right?) and for your toddler to open and lick the icing out of and leave behind what is arguably the best part. There are two sizes of crumbs, so refer to pictures to get an idea of what the crushed cookies look like. And fold in the cookie pieces, so that the cookie dough or buttercream doesn’t turn gray, it’s just not as appetizing.

How to make cookies and cream sugar cookies

Cookies and Cream Sugar Cookies (no chilling required and no spreading when baking)

Makes about 2.5 dozen (12 sandwich cookies)

Ingredients

½ cup butter

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp almond extract

1 egg white

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 crushed Oreo cookies (or other chocolate sandwich cookies) crumbled into pieces but not completely in a powder (see the picture of cookies in hand, I like to break the cookies in half and then half again and then break the larger pieces in half once more).

+optional 1-2 crushed Oreos to put on top of buttercream if not doing sandwich cookies

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F

2. In the bowl of your mixer or large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg white, vanilla, and almond extract until just combined. Now add baking powder, and salt, mix for 2 minutes

3. Add flour, mix until just combined and no streaks of flour. Fold in the crumbled cookies.

4. Roll the dough till about ¼inch thick and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place about 3/4 inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

5. Once cool, top with cookies and cream buttercream. Store these cookies in the fridge.

For sandwich cookies: Use a small scoop and put about 1 ½ tbsp of buttercream in the center of the cookie and top with another cookie pressing it together until the frosting spreads to the edge of the cookie.

Cookies with frosting on top: Use a small scoop, or buttercream in a piping bag with a large tip, and put about 1 tbsp of buttercream on the cookie. If not using a piping bag, use an offset spatula to spread it out, and then top with crumbled oreo.

Cookies and Cream Buttercream

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened

2 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream

Pinch of salt

3 finely crushed Oreo cookies or other sandwich cookies (put in a food processor until finely crushed, or in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin).

Directions

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer (this way is easier) or in a large mixing bowl combine butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Whip it and whip it good with the whip attachment. Mix for at least 3 minutes, and it starts to get lighter and fluffier, scraping down the sides if needed.

2. Add in the vanilla, and heavy whipping cream. Mix it until incorporated, now add the rest of the powdered sugar.

3. Mix for 6-8 minutes. You will see the icing/frosting get lighter and fluffier and almost glossy looking. Stop to scrape down the sides as needed

4. Fold in the finely crushed Oreo. You want to fold it in so that the buttercream doesn’t turn grey.