No Bake Oreo Pie Recipe

This no bake Oreo pie is a chocolate wafer crust filled with whipped cream cheese, Cool Whip and 10 crushed Oreos. It takes about 20 minutes of hands-on work and at least 4 hours in the fridge, and one 9 inch pie gives 8 to 10 slices. No oven, no stove.

Two things decide whether it slices clean or slumps: soft cream cheese beaten smooth before anything else goes in, and a full chill. Overnight is even better.

Everything for One 9 Inch Oreo Cream Pie

• Crust: 1¾ cups finely crushed chocolate wafer cookies (or chocolate graham crackers) and 5 tablespoons melted butter, plus a pinch of salt if you like
• Filling: one 8 oz package cream cheese, ⅓ cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, one 8 oz tub whipped topping, 10 Oreos roughly crushed
• Time: 20 minutes prep, 4 hours chilling, about 4 hours 20 minutes in all
• Yield: 8 to 10 slices
• Keeps: 3 days covered in the fridge

Chocolate Wafer Crust or Oreo Cookie Crust?

The recipe uses plain chocolate wafers. With no cream filling inside them, the crumbs pack tight with the butter, firm up in the fridge, and taste of dark cocoa rather than sugar. That keeps the pie from being sweet on sweet. Chocolate graham crackers work too; they are milder and a little sweeter.

A crust made from whole Oreos, cream and all, is what many people picture when they search for an Oreo crust pie. It works. About 20 Oreos pulsed fine give roughly the same 1¾ cups of crumbs. Cut the butter to 3 or 4 tablespoons, because the cream filling already adds fat and sugar. In my experience it softens more overnight than the wafer crust, so serve it within a day.

A store-bought 9 inch Oreo pie crust is the shortcut. Skip the crust steps and fill it straight from the package. The filling sits higher in those shallower shells, so mound it in the center.

For any homemade crust, pulse until the crumbs look like wet sand, then press them hard across the bottom and up the sides with the flat bottom of a measuring cup. Loose crumbs are why a crust falls apart on the plate. Chill it at least 15 minutes while you make the filling.

Beating the Cream Cheese Filling So It Sets

Start with the cream cheese alone. Beat it for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth and fluffy, then add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until no lumps remain. It has to be fully soft. Cold cream cheese stays lumpy no matter how long you mix, and lumps can’t be fixed once the whipped topping is in.

Use full fat brick cream cheese. Spreadable tub cream cheese holds more water, and the pie stays soft in the middle.

Fold the thawed whipped topping in by hand with a spatula, in two additions. Turn the bowl and lift from the bottom until no white streaks are left, then stop. That air is what makes the filling light, and beating it out with a mixer leaves a dense, loose filling.

Cool Whip or Real Whipped Cream in Oreo Pie

I have used both name brand and store brand tubs. Cool Whip holds better overnight; some generic versions break down faster and leave a ring of moisture at the base. If the pie has to last into day two, I buy Cool Whip. Thaw it in the fridge for a few hours. Microwaved whipped topping melts, and once melted it will not set again.

To use real cream instead, whip 1½ cups cold heavy cream to stiff peaks. That makes about 3 cups, close to one 8 oz tub. The pie will be softer and taste fresher, and it is best eaten within 2 days. The same rule applies to the whipped layer on a Mississippi mud pie: the topping decides how well it holds.

Folding In the Crushed Oreos

Put the 10 Oreos in a zip bag and crush them with a rolling pin rather than a food processor. You want a mix of fine crumbs and bigger chunks, because the chunks are what show in a cut slice.

Stir them in last, only until they are spread through the filling. The longer you stir, the more the cookies dissolve and the filling turns grey. Spoon it into the chilled crust, smooth the top, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight for the firmest slices.

Clean Slices, Toppings and Making It Ahead

Add the toppings just before serving: extra crushed Oreos, piped whipped topping, or chocolate shavings. Whipped cream added the day before deflates and weeps.

For neat slices, put the chilled pie in the freezer for 30 minutes, then cut with a long knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between cuts. This keeps the Oreo chunks visible and the crust from cracking. If you like a cut chocolate pie that is more custard than cream, my chocolate cream pie and chocolate pie both need the same patient chill.

You can make the whole pie a day ahead. It keeps covered with foil or a pie dome for up to 3 days in the fridge. It also freezes well for up to a month, wrapped tightly. Thaw it in the fridge for a few hours, or serve it half frozen like an ice cream pie.

Why an Oreo Pie Turns Soft or Runny

• Filling too soft to slice: the whipped topping was melted or beaten in with a mixer, or the pie chilled less than 4 hours. Freeze it for an hour and serve it cold.
• Lumps of cream cheese: it was still cold. Next time leave it out until a finger presses in easily.
• Crust crumbles apart: the crumbs were not pressed firmly, or there was not enough butter to look like wet sand.
• Grey filling: the Oreos were crushed too fine or stirred too long.
• Wet ring at the base: a store brand whipped topping broke down overnight. Cool Whip holds longer.

Cookies and Cream Pie Questions

Is Oreo pie the same as cookies and cream pie?

Yes. Both names mean a creamy filling with crushed Oreos in a chocolate cookie crust, like this one.

Can I make a 3 ingredient Oreo pie?

You can fold crushed Oreos into a tub of Cool Whip and spoon it into a store-bought Oreo crust. Without the cream cheese it is softer and more like mousse, so freeze it before slicing.

For more no bake Oreo ideas, try my Oreo mousse cups, Oreo cheesecake cookies or chocolate covered Oreos. Peanut butter fans should look at my no bake peanut butter pie, and Oreo frosting turns any cake into cookies and cream.

If you make this Oreo pie, leave a comment and tell me which crust you went with.