Oreo Cream Puffs

Love Oreos and cream puffs? Dive into my Oreo cream puff recipe, where choux pastry meets a mouthwatering Oreo cream filling.

Recipe At a Glance

My idea for Oreo cream puffs is choux pastry topped with chocolate crumb topping and filled with a simple Oreo cream that’s a mix of whipped cream, mascarpone cheese, and crushed Oreo cookies.

This dessert is super tasty and not too hard to make, although the crumb topping does add a bit of extra time. The rest is pretty straightforward once you get the streusel discs ready to go on top of the puffs.

If you’re a fan of that classic Oreo flavor, you’re going to enjoy these.

Making these Oreo cream puffs for the first time? Read the ingredients notes, step-by-step instructions, and tips. If it’s not your first rodeo, feel free to jump to the recipe card.

Ingredients Notes and Substitutes

Choux Pastry

• Water and milk. Full-fat milk works best, but skim should work in a pinch. I wouldn’t experiment with vegan milk, as it might alter the flavor of the choux. It’s better to use just water instead.
• All-purpose flour.
• Unsalted butter.
• Eggs.
• Salt and sugar. Sugar alternatives are perfectly fine.

Crumb Topping

• Unsalted butter.
• All-purpose flour.
• Sugar. Both brown and white sugar work fine. Don’t sub in powdered sugar.
• Cocoa powder. It’s mostly here for the color, so you can skip it if you don’t have it or don’t like cocoa powder.

Oreo Filling

• Oreo cookies.
• Heavy cream. Choose the brand you use for whipping.
• Mascarpone cheese. Mascarpone is rich and a bit sweet, making it perfect for making creams. Theoretically, you could substitute it with cream cheese, but the flavor (and probably texture) won’t be the same.
• Powdered sugar. We use powdered sugar to sweeten the whipped cream.
• Vanilla extract. Vanilla improves the flavor of the filling, but it will still taste great even if you skip it. Think of it as the cherry on top of the cake.

How to Make Oreo Cream Puffs

Here’s how we’ll whip up these Oreo cream puffs:

1. Start by making the crumb topping. You can even make it a few days before and freeze it.
2. Next, prepare the choux pastry. Pipe out the puffs, top each with a streusel disc, and bake them in the oven.
3. While the puffs are baking, whip up the Oreo filling.
4. After the puffs have cooled off, fill them with the Oreo cream and serve them.

That’s it. Let’s talk about what that looks like in detail.

Step 1: Make Crumb Topping

(For more detailed information and tips on crumb topping, check out my article on streusel topping.)

1. Warm up the butter. Take the butter out, chop it into cubes, and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour. We want it nice and soft. Skip if you’re in a hurry.
2. Mix dry ingredients. Grab a medium bowl and mix your sugar, flour, and cocoa powder (if using) in there.
3. Add butter. Add that room-temperature butter to the mix and mix the ingredients using a fork until you achieve a homogeneous mass. A mixer will also do the trick.

4. Add Food Dye: If using, add the food dye and stir it until well incorporated. Start with a bit and add more if needed. Use gloves if you’re incorporating the dye using your hands (which is probably the best way).
5. Roll out. Sandwich your dough between two sheets of parchment paper or silicone mats, and roll it out thin – aiming for about 1/10 inch or 2 to 3mm thick. When it starts getting tough to roll, peel off the top layer, place it on your work surface, and then flip the dough over onto it. Finish by peeling off and putting the other layer back. Repeat whenever it gets hard to roll.

6. Refrigerate. Pop the rolled-out dough, still between the sheets, in the fridge for about 30 minutes. That’s when you can start working on choux pastry. For best results, place the rolled-out dough on something that will retain a low temperature for longer, like a cutting board.
7. Cut. Once the dough is nice and cold, cut it into disks slightly larger than your puffs. Once you cut out all the necessary shapes, gather the remaining streusel scraps using a pairing knife or an offset spatula, form them into a ball, and roll it out or freeze for next time. Be quick here because the dough softens fast.

8. Back to the cold (optional). If time allows, refrigerate or freeze the cut streusel for 10 to 15 minutes so it doesn’t break when transferring the shapes onto the puffs. You can prepare the streusel in advance and freeze it.

Step 2: Make Choux Pastry

(Read my article on choux pastry for a more detailed description and tips on working with choux pastry!)

1. Preheat the oven. Start by preheating your oven to 390°F (200°C).
2. Melt the butter and bring to a boil. In a pot, combine butter, milk, water, salt, and sugar, then bring the mixture to a boil and ensure the butter is fully melted.

3. Add the flour. Take the pot off the heat, add all the flour to the mixture at once, and stir until it roughly combines. Bring the pot back to the stove and continue stirring with a spoon over low heat. The dough will thicken and clump quickly, but you should continue stirring the mixture for 2-3 minutes, ensuring all the flour is incorporated and no white floury spots are inside. While stirring, scrape the dough from the sides and bottom to prevent sticking. After 2-3 minutes, the dough should be glossy and easy to detach from the pot, and a thin layer, or film, should form on the bottom.

4. Transfer. Move the dough to a mixing bowl and cool for about 10 minutes. Spreading it across the bowl can speed up cooling.

5. Prepare the eggs. Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and whisk them.

6. Make dough. Once the dough has cooled slightly, start mixing it with a hand mixer at medium speed. After 20-30 seconds of mixing, add half the eggs to the dough and mix until incorporated. Repeat by adding half of the leftover egg mixture. Now it’s time to get the dough to the right consistency: you want it thick enough to hold its shape but still pipeable. The V-Shape test is the best way to check for that: Dip your mixer whisks or spatula into the dough and lift it. The dough should slowly fall off, eventually leaving a piece of dough hanging that forms a characteristic ‘V’ shape or a triangle at the end of the whisk or spatula. If the dough is not there yet, continue adding the eggs bit by bit and checking the consistency.

Step 3: Pipe and Bake Cream Puffs

(Check out my cream puffs article for more info on making cream puffs.)

1. Prepare the baking tray. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Optionally, draw 2-inch circles on the underside of the parchment as guides, spaced about 1 1/5 inches apart, for uniformly sized cream puffs.

2. Set up for piping. Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a round tip or use a plastic food bag with a corner cut off.
3. Pipe the dough. Start by holding your piping bag with a round tip vertically above the baking sheet. Begin piping by gently squeezing the bag, letting the pastry build into a mound. As you form the mound, lift the bag slowly, still squeezing, to let the pastry stack upon itself. Keep the tip partially in the forming mound, guiding it to expand up and out. Aim for about 3/4 inches in height and 2 inches in diameter. To finish, stop squeezing and smoothly pull the tip up and away, leaving a small peak. You can lightly pat this down with a damp finger.

4. Add streusel. Once the puffs are piped, take the crumb topping discs from the fridge and place one on top of each piped mound, pressing gently.

5. Bake. Place the tray in the preheated oven, then immediately reduce the temperature to 356°F (180°C). Bake for 40 minutes. Open the door a tiny bit (and leave them open) for the last 5 minutes for any buildup steam to escape. If the puffs start to brown before the 35-minute mark, lower the temperature to 320°F (or 160°C).
6. Cool. Remove the puffs from the oven, let them cool for 10 minutes, then carefully detach them from the parchment paper or silicone mat and let them cool on a wire rack for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 4: Make Oreo Filling

Get the filling ready while the puffs are in the oven.

1. Whip heavy cream. Pour the cold heavy cream into a cold bowl, add powdered sugar and vanilla extract, and whip until firm peaks form. Put the bowl in the fridge.

2. Whip mascarpone cheese. In a large bowl, whip the mascarpone cheese until it’s nice and soft (don’t expect much extra volume). That makes it easier to blend with the whipped cream and Oreo pieces later.

3. Fold in whipped cream. Gently stir one-third of the whipped cream into the mascarpone to lighten it up, then fold in the rest carefully to avoid deflating the mixture.

4. Chop Oreo cookies. Finely chop the Oreos, so they’re small enough to easily pass through your piping nozzle without clogging. An extra minute here saves you five minutes of dealing with a clogged nozzle.

5. Fold in Oreos. Mix the chopped Oreos evenly into the cream mixture, ensuring a consistent Oreo flavor throughout. Refrigerate until you’re ready to fill the puffs.

Step 5: Assemble Oreo Cream Puffs

1. Cut tops. Slice the top off each puff, making a large enough opening for easy filling. Arrange the tops next to their corresponding bases to avoid mix-ups.

2. Pipe Oreo filling. Spoon the Oreo filling into a piping bag and generously fill each puff, letting the cream overflow for a luxurious look.
3. Replace tops. Carefully place each top back on its base, gently pressing to secure it with the cream.

4. Serve. Refrigerate or serve the puffs.

Variations

Here are some ideas for modifying this recipe according to your needs and time constraints.

Simplify

• Skip Crumb Topping: Although the crumb topping adds a nice crunch, it does take extra time and effort. For a quicker option, you can leave it out and simply sprinkle the puffs with powdered sugar or whip up a quick chocolate ganache, as shown in my vanilla cream puffs recipe. If you opt out of the topping, consider reducing the filling ingredients by a third since the puffs won’t puff up quite as much.

Elevate

• Dye the Streusel: For an extra touch that mimics the classic Oreo look, mix enough black food coloring into your streusel to turn it black. That won’t alter the flavor but will enhance the visual appeal, making them look more like Oreos.

Storage

You can store these cream puffs in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Make sure the container is sealed tightly so they don’t absorb any smells.

Sharing is caring!