Oreo Frosting Recipe

This Oreo frosting is a cookies and cream buttercream made with 1 cup of softened butter, 3½ cups of powdered sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla, 2 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, and 10 finely crushed Oreos with the filling left in. It takes about 10 minutes and frosts 12 cupcakes generously or fills and covers a 6 inch two layer cake.

The cookies go in last. Whip the butter until it is almost white, build a smooth vanilla buttercream, then fold the crumbs in by hand so the frosting stays pale and speckled instead of gray.

The Oreo Frosting Ratio in One List

• Ingredients: 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 3½ cups (420 g) powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 to 3 tbsp heavy cream or milk, 10 Oreo cookies
• Time: about 10 minutes with a stand or hand mixer
• Yield: enough for 12 cupcakes with tall swirls, or one 6 inch two layer cake
• Cookie ratio: 10 whole Oreos to 1 cup of butter, which crush down to roughly 1 cup of fine crumbs
• Best piping tip: a large open star such as a 1M, or a large round tip
• Storage: 1 week in the fridge, 2 months in the freezer

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Whipping the Butter Until It Turns Almost White

Use real unsalted butter, softened to about 65°F (18°C). Press it with a finger: it should dent easily but not feel greasy or slide apart. Butter that is too warm makes a soft, shiny frosting, and the cream filling inside the Oreos adds a little more fat, so a warm start only gets worse.

Beat it on medium high for 3 to 4 minutes. It changes from yellow to a pale ivory and looks fluffy around the edges of the bowl. Those minutes trap air, and that air is what keeps a frosting with a full cup of cookie crumbs light enough to pipe.

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Sifting the Powdered Sugar Into the Butter

Sift the powdered sugar first. It clumps in a humid kitchen, and those lumps never fully beat out. Add it one cup at a time on low speed so it does not fly out of the bowl, then turn the mixer up and beat for 2 minutes until smooth.

Gritty frosting almost always means the sugar went in all at once or was never sifted. Rub a little between your fingers before you move on. It should feel silky.

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Heavy Cream or Milk for Cookies and Cream Buttercream

Add the vanilla and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk and beat until smooth. Cream gives a thicker frosting that holds sharp ridges from a star tip, so I use it for piped cupcakes and cake borders. Milk makes a softer frosting that spreads easily over a sheet cake but slumps a little in tall swirls.

Stop when the buttercream is a touch softer than you want. The cookie crumbs soak up liquid for 10 to 15 minutes after they go in, and the frosting firms up as they do. If it is still too stiff after that, add more cream 1 teaspoon at a time.

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Crushing and Folding In the Oreos Without Turning It Gray

Use all 10 cookies, cream filling included. The filling adds sweetness and vanilla, and the wafers bring the cocoa flavor. Pulse them in a food processor until fine, then shake the crumbs through a mesh sieve. Anything left in the sieve is what jams a piping tip, so save those bigger pieces for sprinkling on top.

Fold the crumbs in with a spatula, or mix on the lowest speed for a few seconds. Long beating grinds the crumbs into the butter and the whole bowl turns a flat gray. A few streaks are fine. They even out as you pipe.

For a darker, fudgier topping without the cookie bits, my brownie frosting or chocolate buttercream frosting is a better pick.

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Oreo Buttercream or Cream Cheese Oreo Frosting?

This recipe is an all butter Oreo buttercream. It is sweeter, holds piped shapes well, and can sit out at cool room temperature for a party afternoon. A cream cheese Oreo frosting is tangier and softer, it needs the fridge, and it suits a sheet cake or cookie sandwiches more than tall swirls.

For the cream cheese version, make my cream cheese buttercream frosting and fold in the same 10 crushed Oreos at the end. If you want a plain vanilla base for other flavors, start from this vanilla buttercream instead.

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Piping Oreo Frosting on Cupcakes and Layer Cakes

For cupcakes, fill a bag fitted with a 1M or large round tip and pipe from the outside in. Half an Oreo pushed into the top hides any small gaps. These chocolate Oreo cupcakes and my ultimate chocolate cupcakes are the two I pair it with most.

For a layer cake, chill the cake layers first so they do not slide. Spread about a third of the frosting between two 6 inch layers and use the rest for the outside. It also works as a filling between chocolate layers, or alongside a chocolate cake filling if you want two different layers inside the cake.

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Fixing Soupy, Stiff, or Gritty Oreo Frosting

• Soupy or shiny: the butter was too warm. Chill the bowl for 15 minutes, then beat again on medium.
• Too stiff to pipe: the crumbs have soaked up the cream. Beat in more cream, 1 teaspoon at a time.
• Gray color: the crumbs were mixed too long. Next time fold them in by hand. Tinted gray frosting still tastes the same.
• Tip keeps clogging: the crumbs were not sieved, or the tip is too small. Switch to a 1M or large round tip.
• Gritty texture: unsifted sugar. Beat 2 more minutes with a teaspoon of cream.

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Keeping Oreo Frosting in the Fridge or Freezer

A frosted cake is fine at cool room temperature for a few hours. For longer, cover it and refrigerate. Leftover frosting keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for 2 months. Thaw it in the fridge, let it sit out about 30 minutes, then rewhip until smooth.

The cookie bits soften as the frosting sits, and the dark specks slowly tint it darker. If you want the palest, crispest look, make the buttercream ahead and fold in the crumbs on the day you frost.

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Oreo Frosting Questions

How many Oreos go in Oreo frosting?

Ten whole Oreo cookies, filling included, for 1 cup of butter and 3½ cups of powdered sugar.

Is cookies and cream frosting the same as Oreo frosting?

Yes. Cookies and cream frosting or icing is a vanilla buttercream with crushed chocolate sandwich cookies folded in, which is exactly this recipe.

How much Oreo frosting do I need for a cake?

One batch fills and covers a 6 inch two layer cake. For an 8 or 9 inch two layer cake, make 1½ to 2 batches.

Can I make chocolate Oreo frosting?

Yes. Fold the 10 crushed Oreos into a cocoa buttercream like my chocolate frosting for a darker, double chocolate version.