Crumbl Copycat Oreo Cookies with Buttercream Frosting

Crumbl Copycat Oreo Cookies with Buttercream Frosting - made February 3, 2022 from Lifestyle of a Foodie 

25 Oreo cookies (not Oreo Thins or Double Stuff)

1 cup + 1 tablespoon flour

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 stick butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup oil

1 large egg

Buttercream frosting

1/2 stick butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 - 1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish: additional Oreos, coarsely chopped, for topping frosted cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, grind Oreos until finely crushed.
3. In a medium bowl, combine crushed Oreos, flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and salt; set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar, powdered sugar and granulated sugar until well combined, light and creamy.
5. Add egg and oil; mix until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl to keep mixture even textured.
6. Add dry ingredients in two additions, mixing after each addition until just combined. 
7. Portion dough into 10 equal portions and shape into thick discs. Evenly space on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool to lukewarm.
8. While cookies are cooling, make frosting: cream together butter, powdered sugar, 1/2 tablespoon heavy cream and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the other 1/2 tablespoon of heavy cream if frosting seems too thick.
9. Spread frosting on lukewarm cookies and sprinkle with crushed Oreos. Serve immediately.

The best news for my sweet tooth and the worst for my waistline and my wallet is that a Crumbl finally opened up in my 'hood. Not super close but less than 10 miles which is infinitely better than the 100 miles previously. So...yay! Oh no! Yay!

I'm as susceptible as the next cookie lover to the Crumbl craze. When I first discovered them, I was all into their milk chocolate chip cookie, a staple on their weekly menu and I tried any number of copycats for them. But it's only lately that I've cottoned onto the craze of their weekly changing specialty flavors. 

The week that the local Crumbl franchise opened, one of their specialty flavors was the Oreo cookie topped with buttercream and garnished with Oreo cookie crumbs. So I tried out the copycat for it from Lifestyle of a Foodie who does a great number of Crumbl copycats on her blog. I deliberately made the copycat before I went to the Crumbl opening and tried the real thing. I wanted to judge it on its own merits rather than assessing it as a copycat to anything.

I'm glad I did as I can honestly tell you this is a great cookie. Made up of Oreo cookie crumbs guarantees it will have the Oreo flavor. But I also liked the soft texture. The edges are light and crisp thanks to the oil in the dough and the middle was soft and chewy.

The only thing that was a bit much for me was the frosting. It's pretty rich and I don't think I beat it enough to get the lighter texture of a Crumbl frosting. Plus I piped it over the taste test cookie for aesthetics and that meant more frosting than should be on any cookie. I coarsely chopped real Oreos for the garnish instead of crumbs, mostly because I like Oreos and wanted the chunks, not the crumbs. 

I could only eat one cookie of this and even that I had to spread over time and scrape off most of the frosting after I took the pictures above. It was good but pretty rich. I sent the rest of the frosted, non-taste-test cookie to a friend in a care package. I needed to clear the way for the real thing which I did get at Crumbl the next day.

Pictures from the real Crumbl

Opening Day (February 4, 2022)

Staff busy and hard at work to keep up with demand

It was fun to go on opening day and great to see so many fellow Crumbl cookie lovers. I was also glad to see so many people turned out as I take that as a good sign for the success of the franchise.

Chocolate Featuring Oreo

So here's the real thing - the chocolate cookie featuring Oreos. While the copycat version mirrored the taste pretty closely (the cookie itself, not so much the frosting), the original cookie still reigns in terms of texture. Big, cakey but not too cakey and soft; it's hard to describe unless you're already familiar with their cookies. The texture is amazing. It's like a cake but not as light, still a cookie but a soft, chewy cookie.

Topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting and garnished with Oreo crumbs

The texture is the most elusive thing to capture for me. I can make good cookies, I can even make great cookies. But I can't fully replicate the soft crumb of a Crumbl cookie. It isn't just about following a copycat recipe, no matter how good that recipe is. It's also mirroring how it's mixed, portioned and baked with the equipment they have, not the oven I have. But in any case, trying out copycats are still fun. And now I have the luxury of getting the real Crumbl cookies in my area. Back to the yay....