This vegan Oreo cake looks like a giant Oreo cookie! Oreo cookies are baked into the chocolate cake layers and it has a vanilla center and chocolate frosting.
So this vegan Oreo cake actually looks like a giant Oreo cookie.
Not only is it made with loads of actual Oreo cookies baked into the layers but the cake itself looks like a big Oreo, with white vanilla frosting sitting between two layers of chocolate cake.
It’s loads of fun to make and definitely one you’ll enjoy making for the Oreo lovers in your life.
You’ll also love our vegan Oreo cupcakes, vegan cookies and cream ice cream, vegan Oreo truffles and vegan Oreo milkshake.
How To Make Vegan Oreo Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
It’s easier than you can imagine. It’s a simple chocolate cake recipe adapted from our easy vegan chocolate cake and our best vegan chocolate cake recipes, with oreos baked into the layers.
To bake the Oreos into the layers, you just line the bottoms of your 9-inch cake pans with Oreo cookies.
Pour in your chocolate cake batter.
Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. See how the Oreos have baked perfectly into those cake layers!
Then you make a simple vegan vanilla frosting for the center and a delicious vegan chocolate buttercream to frost the tops and sides.
When the cakes are cooled, add all the vanilla frosting to the middle.
It will be starting to look just like a giant Oreo.
And then frost the top and sides with the chocolate buttercream.
And of course, you decorate the cake with crushed Oreos.
The Frosting
The vegan chocolate buttercream makes quite a lot, it’s enough to pipe on some extras if you want to do that and frost the top and sides quite liberally.
As you can see in the photos, I added some little piping detail at the base of the cake. So there is enough to do that if you want to.
The vanilla frosting makes enough for a lovely thick layer of creamy white frosting in the center which looks super cute.
If you want to make this vegan Oreo cake even easier and aren’t a massive fan of frosting, you could omit the vanilla frosting center and just use the chocolate buttercream for the whole cake, it would just be a thinner layer of it.
Are Oreos Vegan?
Yes they are. Their ingredient list is vegan. However, they are made in a factory that also processes non-vegan (dairy) items so if you have a serious dairy allergy, probably not for you as the possibility of cross contamination exists.
But this is similar to the possibility of cross contamination if you eat a vegan meal at a non-vegan restaurant. The possibility of cross contamination does not mean that the ingredient is IN the food, it means that if you have a serious life threatening allergy you should probably avoid it.
Read the ingredients list though as they might not be the same in every country.
If you are not an Oreo fan you can use a different kind of vegan sandwich cookie to make this cake.
Storing and Freezing
Keep your leftover cake covered and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Usually cakes would last a bit longer in the fridge, but this has to do with the oreo cookies – they’re at their best when consumed within 3 days of making the cake or they can start to get a little soggy. You want that lovely crisp cookie texture contrasting with the moist fluffiness of the chocolate cake.
The frosted cake can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature on the countertop before serving.
Reasons To Love This Vegan Oreo Cake
- It’s like a giant Oreo cookie. It really is. It tastes like it and looks like it too!
- Mega-chocolatey. It’s two layers of decadently delicious chocolate cake with chocolate Oreos baked into it and a frosting of chocolate buttercream. It’s a chocolate lovers dream.
- Perfectly contrasted textures between cake, cookies and frosting. Seriously! You have this wonderfully moist, light, fluffy cake, crisp baked Oreo cookies, creamy vanilla frosting and silky smooth, creamy chocolate buttercream.
- It’s super easy! No really, it is. No fancy ingredients in this, it’s stuff you’ve likely already got in your pantry.
- It’s decadent as all heck! Seriously, you don’t even want to know the nutritional info for this cake. When doing the calculations here I suddenly understood why so many baking bloggers omit this info! But you know it’s going to be just soooo good.
More Vegan Chocolate Cakes
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Vegan German Chocolate Cake
- The Most Amazing Vegan Chocolate Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Oreo Cake
Ingredients
For the Oreo Cookie Layers:
- 42 Oreo Cookies
For the Vegan Chocolate Cake:
- 2 ¼ cups All Purpose Flour (281g)
- ¾ cup Cocoa Powder (63g) Unsweetened
- 1 ½ cups White Granulated Sugar (300g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
- ¾ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ Flax Eggs 1 ½ Tablespoons Ground Flaxseed mixed with 4 ½ Tablespoons Hot Water
- 1 ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or other non-dairy milk
- 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Canola Oil (120ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 ½ Tablespoons Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
For the Vanilla Frosting Center:
- ¼ cup Vegan Butter (56g)
- 2 ½ cups Powdered Sugar (300g)
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
For the Vegan Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
- ¾ cup Vegan Butter (170g)
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder (42g) Unsweetened
- ¼ cup Soy Milk or other non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For Decorating:
- 6 Oreo Cookies Crushed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Spray two 9-inch cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.
- Then place Oreo cookies along the bottom of the pans. I used 21 cookies in each pan. Set aside.
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and then add the sugar, baking soda and salt and mix together.
- Prepare your flax egg by mixing 1 ½ Tablespoons ground flaxseed meal with 4 ½ Tablespoons hot water from the kettle and leave it for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add in the soy milk, vanilla, oil, vinegar and flax eggs to the mixing bowl and mix in. Use a hand whisk briefly just to remove any lumps.
- Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans, pouring it over the Oreo cookies at the base of the cake pans and quickly smoothing it down so that it properly covers the Oreo cookies. The layer of batter is quite thin so you want to smooth it out to the edges of the pan so that the Oreos are all covered.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes and then remove them from the cake pans and place onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your vanilla frosting center by adding the vegan butter, powdered sugar, soy milk and vanilla extract to the bowl of a stand mixer and starting off at slow speed, gradually increase speed until thick and smooth. See my notes below about the soy milk, you might not need all of it, though I used it all. Set aside.
- Prepare your vegan chocolate buttercream frosting. Add the vegan butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, soy milk and vanilla to the bowl of the stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until thick and smooth. See the note about soy milk for the frosting in the notes below, it's possible you may not need to use all the soy milk, though I used the full amount.
- Place one of the cake layers, Oreo cookie side up, on a cake stand. Add all the vanilla frosting and smooth it evenly over the cake into a thick layer.
- Then place the second cake layer, Oreo cookie side down, on top of it. Frost the tops and sides of the cake with the chocolate buttercream. You can put it on thickly and there will still be a little left over for some piping detail if you want to add that.
- Crush up the 6 Oreos and decorate the cake with the cookie crumbles.
Notes
- When adding the soy milk to the frosting recipes, go slow. Some brands of vegan butter have a higher water content than others, it’s possible you may not need to use all the soy milk recommended. This is how much I used but different brands of vegan butter can have differences in their water content.
- Keep your leftover cake covered and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- It can be frozen for up to 2 months, but it’s best when fresh.
- This recipe has been updated, my original recipe did not use parchment paper along the bottoms of the pans, but we re-tested it and found it works great with parchment paper along the bottoms and lets the cakes come out really easily, with no impact on the crispiness of the cookies baked into the cake bases.
Hi Alison,
Just dropping by to say THANK YOU for this recipe and blog! I’ve made this cake at least 10 times over the years, and your blog in general got me baking again after I’d given up on vegan baking!
-A fellow Alison
Thank you so much Alison, that is awesome to hear! 🙂
Made this recipe for my child’s 9th birthday and it was a success. Easy to make too.
So happy to hear that Sofia! Thanks for the awesome review.
Hi Alison, this looks spectacular. I’d love to make it soon but wanted to know if I can replace the flax seed eggs for canola/olive oil? I’ve done this before in your recipes but wanted to confirm the amount before taking on a huge recipe! Thank you.
Hi Kristina, it’s better to replace it with something like applesauce (the amount to use would be 5 tablespoons). That would replicate the texture achieved with the flax eggs perfectly.
I made this cake for a friend’s birthday and it was mind-blowingly good! Everyone absolutely loved it. I make all of my cakes from your site and they never fail to be an absolute hit! Thank you 🙂
That’s wonderful Varie! Thanks so much for the lovely comment and review!
The cake (so I mean the solid part) ist perfect. It is a bit unstable by moving (I used a 6 inch baking pan), so you have to be careful by positioning the layers..
Frosting is kind of a sugar – injection directly into my brain, so I was ful after one single bite ????
Next time I’ll take half or even lesser sugar so I can eat more ???? thanks for the recipe and greetings from Germany.
Hi! Would melted coconut oil work as a replacement for canola oil?
Hi Bethany, yes you can use melted coconut oil. I sometimes find it makes a cake a little bit more dense, but not in a bad way!
Delicious! Used almond instead of soy milk, and used a mix of applesauce and oil to make it (slightly ) healthier. Everyone loved it!
This cake worked perfectly first time around! I used apple cider vinegar and almond milk! Thank you!
Awesome! Thanks Jessie.
Hi, can I use apple sauce instead of the Flax Eggs?
Hi Marina, yes you can use 5 tablespoons of applesauce to replace the flax eggs. 🙂
I made this cake about two years ago and then again today. It came out perfectly the first time, but was a bit dry this time. I’ll try to follow your advice regarding spooning the flour when I try again!
Hi Jennifer, yes spoon and level method for flour is the way to measure it, or a food scale for perfect accuracy. 🙂
Hi! This is a great recipe that I made last night for the first time. I used regular eggs and it came out a bit dry so I’m going to try a few adjustments for next time. One question: are the oreo sandwiches on the bottom of the pan whole cookies or just the hard part of the cookies? I used the whole cookie in each pan (8 in.) and found that it disrupts the texture of the cakes and makes mine look nothing like your picture. Wondering if taking apart the cookie and scraping out the cream filling is the difference there. Thank you!
Hi Sarah, we used the full cookie and didn’t scrape out the cream center. Using chicken eggs may account for it being a bit dry, but it might also be using too much flour. Make sure you use the spoon and level method if using only cups (spoon it into the measuring cup and level off the top with a knife, don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup), or weigh it on a food scale if you have one! All the best!
Hi Alison
If I wish to make this in 7” tins, how would I reduce the recipe?
Hi Christine, I would follow our 7-inch chocolate cake recipe. You could reduce the frostings by a third as well if you want to. And then also just put in as many oreos for the base as easily fits in your 7-inch pans.
???? ….will do
Hi I’ve just made this but it hasn’t got much of a rise. Could I possibly use self raising flour next time?
Hi Tharan, sorry to hear it didn’t rise much. A common reason for this is over-mixing the batter (it should only be mixed until ‘just’ mixed) or letting the batter sit too long before baking. Also just check that you used baking soda and not baking powder and that it isn’t expired. All the best! 🙂
Made this for my 30th birthday and served it to 10 very sceptical non-vegans and they LOVED it! Great recipe!
Awesome Emily! So glad to hear that! 🙂
Thanks so much for this recipe. My whole non vegan family absolutely loved this cake and couldn’t stop taking more pieces. The recipe was also so easy! I did however leave out 300 grams of icing sugar from the chocolate frosting because the rest of the recipe already has lots of sugar. But in my opinion, that made the cake the perfect sweetness for the whole family. Even those who prefer a fruity cake over a chocolate cake. Thanks again!
So glad to hear everyone enjoyed it Elise! Thanks so much for sharing and the great review!
Hello, love your recipes. Quick question, can I use cocoa powder that is already sweetened instead of unsweetened
Hi Ashley, you probably can, I don’t see a big problem with it other than it will increase the sweetness of the cake, so in that way unsweetened would be preferable.