Vegan Monster Oreos
Hola friends! It’s spooky season, one of my favorite holidays. Although I’m arguably an adult, no age is going to stop me from claiming my free candy. Plus we’ve been robbed of Halloween for practically 2 years (pandemic be gone)! Now is the time to bring it back in full force. I know bloggers who make loads of amazing creepy crawling bakes but I personally don’t have the time and mental capacity to make a 12 treat Halloween box bonanza. Honestly, in the right mood I might try but today is not that day.
I’ve been meaning to make vegan oreos for a long time. There’s so much nostalgia here. Me and my sister would watch Parent Trap on repeat when we were in grade school, then spend the next few days eating oreos with peanut butter. Feeling so proud of ourselves because we were basically the cool “Olsen sisters” among the other kids. Now that I’m older, I don’t often get to eat oreos. Maybe I’ve traded them for fancier sounding desserts like scotch tarte tatins and mirror glazed trifles. All of these are great but they do take more out of you than the humble cookie. Meanwhile in an era so fast paced and flashy, some days are just meant to be slow. To bake for the sole reason of baking for one self and people you love. These vegan Halloween monster oreos are for those days.
How To Make Vegan Monster Oreos
First, gather all your cookie dough ingredients and grab a bowl. I then used any spoon that was in arm’s reach and roughly mixed all the dry ingredients. Contrary to what many people do, you don’t want to dump everything all at once. Mixing the dry ingredients together before adding the wet ensures you won’t have any large clumps of flour or weird pops of salty areas in your final dough.
Once everything looks more or less incorporated, you can add in the rest of the ingredients, ending with the flax egg. At this point you can switch to using your hands to bring the dough together. Testing the consistency by squishing a small portion in your palm to see if it clumps together (it should be similar to play dough but not sticky). If the dough falls apart, add another tablespoon of melted butter and gently incorporate with your hands. Shape into a rectangle, cover with plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes or up to overnight. Then, the rest of the steps are pretty straightforward. Roll out the dough, cut out shapes with your favorite cookie cutter (in my case it was a shot glass) then transfer to a pan to bake.
While your waiting for the cookies to fully cool, you can start on the cream filling. Traditional oreo filling is made with shortening and sugar however, I’m not a huge fan of the waxy mouthfeel that many shortenings possess. As a richer and creamier alternative, I used butter. Always a good idea. The butter is creamed until fluffy followed by a tumble of sugar and vanilla. I used natural ube extract and a blend of matcha and spinach powder to tint my buttercream into vibrant hues. This might sound weird but nobody tasted a huge difference since I used such a small quantity. I also started with a jade green (ceremonial grade) matcha powder so that definitely bumped up the color. Alternatively, you can use a liquid or gel food coloring but I find that natural dyes have less color separation and taste yumm-ier.
Note: A little ube/matcha goes a long way. I didn’t notice any significant change in buttercream flavor. Mostly just notes of vanilla and butter in these vegan Halloween monster oreos.
The last step is to bring everything together. Dollop as much filling as you want onto a chocolate cookie, squidge another cookie on top. Voila! An oreo! Add two eyeball sprinkles to complete the Halloween monster oreo look and guys they look really cute. Even my dad passed by and said “Cara, those are cute cookies.”
Just A Few More Tips
- Use alkalized/Dutch or black cocoa powder for a true oreo experience. This is the same cocoa that Nabisco uses. It goes without saying that this still tastes delish with any cocoa powder as long as it’s unsweetened and not complete garbage (say it’s been sitting in your cupboard for 3 years and is moldy!).
- Roll your cookie dough in between 2 separate sheets of parchment paper. This is the cleanest and most fuss free method for rolling dough that I’ve tried. At the same time, there’s no need to dust your surfaces with flour and risk your dough from becoming too crumbly.
- Feel free to play with your oreo fillings like adding a layer of chocolate hazelnut on the cookies or adding peppermint extract to the cream for a peppermint oreo.
- These cookies can be frozen for up to 2 months while the cream filling may be made ahead of time (up to 2 days in advance). Make sure to keep the buttercream in an airtight container and chill when storing. When ready to use, allow to come to room temperature.
Let me know if you tried making these Vegan Halloween Monster Oreos by leaving a rating/comment down below! Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Vegan Monster Oreos
Ingredients
Oreo Cookie Dough
- 125 g (1 cup) flour ,sifted
- 48 g (½ cup) coca powder, preferably black or dutch ,sifted
- 62 g (5 tbsp) coconut/brown sugar
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 48 mL (4 tbsp) vegan butter/coconut butter ,melted
- 28 mL (2 tbsp) maple syrup/agave
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 3 tbsp water
Cream Filling
- 112.5 g (½ cup) unsalted vegan butter/coconut butter ,softened
- 240 g (2 cups) powdered sugar ,sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ,½ vanilla bean pod
- natural food coloring (I used matcha and ube) ,can sub with gel food color
- edible eyeball/halloween sprinkles ,optional
Instructions
Oreo Cookie
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking tray with silpat or parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix the flaxseed and 3 tablespoons of water and set aside for 2-3 minutes to thicken. This will be your flax egg/binder.
- Meanwhile, combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add in the rest of the ingredients ending with the flax egg. Once the dough starts to get too thick to mix with a spoon switch to mixing with your hands until it comes together in a ball. If the dough looks too dry, you can add 1 tablespoon of melted butter and gently smoosh to incorporate it into the dough.
- Transfer the cookie dough to a clean surface, shape roughly into a rectangle and cover with cling wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes or up to overnight.
- When ready to roll, grab 2 separate parchment paper sheets large enough to span your ideal work surface. Lay one sheet down and place the dough on top. Cover the dough with the other sheet and start rolling it out until it is ⅙ inch thick, peeling off the parchment paper every now and then to check on the evenness. Then, use your favorite cookie cutter to cut out shapes.
- Transfer the cookies to the prepared pan and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookie appears matte and the smell of chocolate wafts through the room. Set aside until fully cooled.
Cream Filling
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Slowly add in the powdered sugar on low speed and combine. Add in the vanilla and salt. Scraping down the sides of the bowl so that everything is mixed and creamy.
- Divide your buttercream into two separate bowls and add in your preferred coloring per bowl. I used matcha for the green filling and ube extract for the purple filling.
Assemble Time
- Spoon/pipe about 2 tsp of frosting per cookie and sandwich with another cookie. Repeat process until all your cookies have been oreo-d. Press in your favorite halloween sprinkles. Dip in milk and enjoy!
