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This Cookies n Cream Snack Cake consists of a moist, fluffy white cake studded with large chunks of Oreo cookies, then topped with cookies n cream whipped cream frosting! It's the perfect snack cake for anyone who loves milk's favorite cookie!
Table of contents
Cookies n Cream Snack Cake
I am crazy for all things cookies n cream, and this cookies n cream snack cake is no exception. It starts with a white vanilla cake base (which is AMAZING) with little pops of chopped Oreos throughout. It’s then topped with a whipped cream frosting that's full of crushed Oreos, then garnished with additional Oreo crumbs. Each and every bite is sheer perfection!
Ingredients for Cookies n Cream Snack Cake
This cookies n cream snack cake doesn’t require a ton of ingredients; here’s what you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour: I tested this cake with both all-purpose flour and cake flour and found that all-purpose consistently lead to the best results.
- Granulated sugar: To sweeten our cake.
- Baking soda & baking powder: For a little leavening action.
- Fine sea salt: Desserts without salt can taste a little plain, so don’t forget it!
- Unsalted butter: The one and only. Make sure it's properly softened!
- Egg whites: You'll need two egg whites for this cake. Excluding the egg yolks helps keep our cake nice and white so the cookies n cream really stands out.
- Vanilla: I use vanilla bean paste for the cake and the frosting, but you can use equal amounts of vanilla extract if that's all you have on hand!
- Milk: Whole milk is best, but you can use a low-fat or dairy-free alternative as well!
- Sour cream: This helps to keep the cake super moist and provides a little bit of tang. Feel free to replace it with an equal amount of Greek yogurt if that's all you have on hand!
- Oreos: Any chocolate creme-filled cookie will work, honestly, but I love using double stuf Oreos.
- Cream cheese: For our frosting. Just a bit to provide a nice amount of tang.
- Heavy cream: This is the base of the frosting basically. You'll whip it into the rest of the frosting ingredients to yield a sort of hybrid cream cheese/whipped cream frosting that's not too sweet and really lets the cookies n cream flavor shine.
- Powdered sugar: For our frosting!
How to Make Cookies n Cream Snack Cake
This cookies n cream snack cake couldn’t be much easier to make, honestly! There are two main components: the cookies n cream cake and the cookies n cream whipped cream frosting.
1. The Cookies n Cream Cake
Honestly, this cake is delicious on its own without the frosting. It’s jam-packed with cookies n cream and vanilla flavors. The best part? It’s SOOOO simple to make. Instead of starting with creaming butter and sugar together like traditional cake recipes, this cake uses the reverse creaming method which begins with the dry ingredients and ends with the wet. This method produces a lighter and tighter crumb with more spring. The slices are tight like pound cake, but not dense in the slightest. It’s velvety soft and almost tastes a bit creamy!
First, add the dry ingredients, including the sugar, into the bowl of a stand mixer. Next, beat in the room temperature butter until the mixture resembles sand. (In this step, the butter coats the flour which minimizes the flour’s formation of gluten, and helps result in a finer cake crumb. You’ll taste the difference, trust me!) After that, we’ll add the rest of the liquids and mix until just incorporated and then your batter is ready; just pour it into your prepared baking pan and you’re ready to send it off to the oven!
2. The Cookies n Cream Whipped Cream Frosting
This cookies n cream whipped cream frosting is UNREAL. Normally, I like topping my snack cakes with a buttercream or a glaze, but when testing this recipe, both of those options were just way too sweet for my liking and really overpowered the cake; I wanted a frosting that allowed the cookies n cream flavor to really shine through. That's why I made a small adaptation to my friend Sally's frosting recipe.
To make it, you'll whip together cream cheese, vanilla bean paste, and a bit of powdered sugar. Then you'll beat in heavy cream and whip it on high speed until you're left with a super thick and fluffy whipped cream frosting. Then all that's left to do is fold in your crushed Oreos and try not to eat it all before frosting your cake!
How to Serve & Store Cookies n Cream Snack Cake
Serving: You can serve this snack cake either chilled or at room temperature; my personal preference is room temperature. To get the cake to room temperature after chilling, just let it stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before serving.
Storage: This cake should be stored in an airtight container and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Leftovers can also be individually wrapped in plastic wrap surrounded by tin foil and then be frozen for up to 2 months; thaw in the fridge overnight and bring to room temperature before serving.
Cookies n Cream Snack Cake Recipe Troubleshooting & FAQ
COOKIES N CREAM SNACK CAKE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do you store this cookies n cream snack cake?
I recommend storing this snack cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It’ll stay fresh for up to 5 days (assuming it lasts that long!). Just let it sit out at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before serving.
Why is this recipe in grams?
I post my recipes in grams as it’s the most accurate way to bake and it’s how I develop them; cups are not only inaccurate but they vary in volume worldwide! In any event, if you look at the recipe card underneath the ingredients list, you can click “US Customary” and it’ll convert to the less accurate volume measures.
COOKIES N CREAM SNACK CAKE: TROUBLESHOOTING
Help! My cake is dry! What did I do wrong?
This cake is anything but dry! If yours turns out as such, you likely either added too much flour or you overbaked it! It could also be a combination of the two! For the best results, use a scale to make this recipe and keep a close eye on it in the oven!
Help! My cake sunk in the middle! What did I do wrong?
A little bit of sinking when cooling is natural, but if the cake completely sinks to the point where the edges of the cake are higher than the middle, then something went wrong! It’s possible that you underbaked the cake and removed it from the oven before the middle got a chance to finish baking. Adding too much leavener could also cause the cake to rapid rise while baking and then collapse while cooling.
Cookies n Cream Snack Cake
Ingredients
For the Cookies n Cream Cake:
- 180 g all-purpose flour
- 150 g granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 127 g unsalted butter softened
- 2 large egg whites room temperature (60 g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 95 g sour cream room temperature
- 95 g milk room temperature
- 90 g chopped Oreos approximately 6 Oreos
For the Cookies n Cream Whipped Cream Frosting:
- 85 g cream cheese softened
- 55 g powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 180 g heavy cream cold
- 45 g crushed Oreos plus more for topping
Instructions
To Make the Cookies n Cream Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and grease an 8×8-inch baking pan or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix briefly to combine. Add the butter and beat until fully incorporated and the mixture resembles wet sand.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites, vanilla, sour cream, and milk until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and beat until just combined. Fold in the chopped Oreos until evenly dispersed.
- Bake the cake for 27-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and relatively crumb-free. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool completely while you make the frosting.
To Make the Cookies n Cream Whipped Cream Frosting:
- In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean paste together until completely smooth.
- Add the heavy cream and beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 2-3 minutes until thick and stiff peaks form. Fold in the crushed Oreos until evenly dispersed.
- Spread the frosting evenly over the top of the cooled snack cake. Top with additional crushed Oreos, if desired.
Nutrition
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Piper
We made this and the cake came out very dense and flat. We were just wondering if the baking powder measurement is correct.
Mike Johnson
The baking powder measurement is definitely correct! It sounds like you might have overmixed the batter; overmixing ingredients can create a dense batter that doesn't get that same airy rise.