This vegan oreo cake is so decadent and nostalgic! Layers of cookies and cream cakes packed with oreo cookies decorated with an oreo buttercream frosting and an optional chocolate ganache.
Why you'll love this cake
OCCASION: Perfect for birthdays, any special occasion or the holidays.
TASTE/TEXTURE: Fluffy, moist and soft vanilla cake with pieces of rich oreo cookies.
Ingredients you'll need
Ingredient notes
Oreo cookies or chocolate cream cookies. The cake recipe also works well with plain chocolate cookies (the last photo in this post shows the cake made with plain cookies).
Vegan butter and neutral oil. Vegan butter adds depth of flavor and a touch of nostalgia whereas oil keeps the cake extra moist! You may be able to use only oil but I haven't tested it.
Dairy-free milk. I used soy milk but any variety will work (e.g. oat milk, almond milk).
Apple cider vinegar. When combined with dairy-free milk, it makes vegan buttermilk which makes a cake more tender. You don't need to mix the milk and vinegar separately - it does its magic in the cake batter!
Baking powder and soda. We're using two leavening agents to make sure the cake is extra fluffy. Even though this is an eggless cake, it's undetectably vegan!
A complete list of ingredients, quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Making the cake batter
This oreo cake batter comes together in one bowl and is no-fuss!
Mix together your dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Add your crushed oreos and fold through.
Adding the oreos at the end makes sure that the batter doesn't turn an unplesant brown/grey color (I've been there and done that).
Tips for baking the cake
This is a straightforward cake to bake! However, here are some expert tips:
- When you insert a toothpick in a cake, it's okay if there are a few crumbs on it! Just make sure there's no wet batter on your toothpick. Overbaking this cake will make the cake dry.
- For extra flat cake layers, I recommend using cake strips. If you don't have any, you can just cut the domes off the layers before stacking them.
Preparing the frosting
The oreo buttercream is a cookies and cream dream!
I recommend crushing the oreos into a fine crumb. You can use a food processor or place them in a bag and crush them with a rolling pin. If the cookies are coarser, it can be a little difficult to spread or pipe the frosting.
Biggest frosting tip: Once you add the cookie crumbs to the frosting, mix until it's just combined (don't overmix it). If you mix the frosting for too long, the crumbs will completely disappear and the frosting will turn into an unpleasant gray color.
Tips for decorating the vegan oreo cake
In addition to oreo and vanilla frosting, I topped my cake with chocolate ganache, whole and crushed oreo cookies. You can also decorate your cake with:
- Dark chocolate chips
- Fancy chocolate bars or shards of chocolate
- Chocolate fudge sauce
Customizing the cake
For a 3-layer cake with 12 serves, divide the cake into 3 x 6 inch (15 cm) cake pans and bake the layers for about 25-30 minutes. The cake will be as tall as my pink champagne cake.
Alternatively, you can make a 3-layer cake with 18 serves (pictured below). Multiply the recipe by 150% and bake it in 3 x 8 inch (20 cm) cake pans.
For a large oreo sheet cake, bake the cake in a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) baking pan for about 35-40 minutes.
To make a vegan chocolate oreo cake, replace ½ cup flour with ½ cup cocoa powder.
This recipe will make about 22-24 vegan oreo cupcakes. I recommend baking them for around 20-25 minutes.
More vegan chocolate cakes
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Vegan Oreo Cake (cookies and cream cake)
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose plain flour
- 1 ¼ cups (250g) granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Wet ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (375g) dairy-free milk, room temperature
- ½ cup (125g) neutral flavored oil,
- ⅓ cup (75g) melted vegan butter, cooled
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, white vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 20 oreo cookies, or ~200g vegan-friendly chocolate cookies, chopped
Oreo buttercream frosting
- 1 ½ cups (340g) vegan block butter, room temperature (note 1)
- 5 cups (500g) powdered sugar / icing sugar, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 5 oreo cookies, or ~50g vegan-friendly chocolate cookies, finely crushed
Ganache Drip (optional)
- ¼ cup (45g) roughly chopped vegan chocolate or chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons (45g) thick scoopable canned coconut cream
To decorate (optional)
- oreo cookies, or vegan-friendly chocolate cookies, crumbled
Instructions
Make the vegan oreo cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (320°F). Line 2 x 8-inch (20 cm) cake pans with parchment paper.
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. Mix until there are no lumps. Add all the wet ingredients (except the oreo cookies) to the bowl and mix until combined. Add the chopped oreos and fold until just combined.
- Evenly divide the cake batter into your 2 pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick in the center of each cake and it comes out with no wet batter on it (a few moist crumbs are fine). Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 20 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack.
Make the oreo buttercream frosting:
- Add the vegan butter to a large bowl (if using a hand mixer) or the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed for 3 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla to the bowl. Beat until the buttercream frosting is light and fluffy. Add more sugar for a firmer frosting or add some milk for a thinner frosting. If desired, set aside some vanilla buttercream for piping later.
- Add the cookie crumbs to the frosting and mix until just combined. Try to not overmix.
Make the ganache (optional):
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat or in the microwave. When the cream is hot, stir through the chocolate and remove from the heat. Stir the mixture occasionally to encourage the chocolate to melt. Once you have a smooth ganache, set aside to cool.
To assemble:
- When the cakes have completely cooled, slice any domes off your cakes.
- Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread or pipe around 1 cup of frosting on the cake. Place the remaining cake on top. Spread or pipe the frosting on the top and sides of the cake.
- Optional: Use a spoon or a piping bag with a small round nozzle to drizzle the chocolate ganache down the sides of the cake. Pipe the remaining vanilla frosting on top of the cake. Decorate the top and sides of the cake with oreo cookies and cookie crumbs.
- Slice the cake and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container or loosely covered in plastic wrap for 2 days at room temperature, 3 days in the fridge or up to 1 month in the freezer.
Notes
- If you only have a spreadable vegan butter, use it chilled in the frosting. Room temperature spreadable vegan butter is too soft for frosting.
Nutrition
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Hi, I am making this for my bday party, becuse one of my friends can't have egg. This sounds delish!
Wonderful, enjoy baking and let me know how you go!
Hi!! Just wondering if there is an alternative instead of coconut cream on the chocolate ganache?
Yes, you can use any dairy free cream or a smaller amount of dairy-free milk (start with 2 tablespoons and increase it a tablespoon at a time until it reaches a drip-like consistency)!
I made these as cup cakes and they turned out really well, The recipe made 20 muffin sized cup cakes, I used the frosting and decorated with mini Oreos and they looked great.
I love this recipe and have used it several times to make the larger cake complete with ganache drip and it is always very popular with everyone (including the non vegans)
Thanks for another great recipe 🙂
I'm so so stoked that you enjoyed this recipe and have made it many times! And oh my goodness, mini oreos sound fantastic and so adorable! Thanks very much for your kind feedback 🙂
Hi Anthea, recipe sounds great and I’m looking to make it. Would this recipe work for cupcakes? Or i might try as a cake but I only have one 8 inch cake tin, would it be ok to divide the recipe by 3? Thanks!
Hi Sophia, yes they would work as cupcakes! Also yes, the recipe will work divided by 3 (or even by 2 if you want a taller cake) :).
Hi.
Can I bake a cake 3-4 days before and freeze whole cake ?
Hi, the cake part can be frozen. However, when some brands of vegan butter are made into buttercream, they 'leak' in the freezer. If your butter doesn't do this, you should be able to freeze it.
Hi! Will this recipe fulfill a sheet cake? I'd like to make a layered sheet cake and if ×1 can fill a sheet then I can double it for the layers.
Hi Maureen! Yes it will fill a sheet pan which is around 33 cm x 23 cm (13 in x 9 in). Doubling it for the layers sounds perfect :). Hope that helps!
Hi Anthea! I'm planning on making this for my iso birthday dinner this week, would this be okay if I halved the recipe? And do you have any biscuit recommendations? I'm thinking of using choc ripple bikkies but if there's something better at Coles or Woollies I'm open to suggestions 🙂
Thank you!
Hi Millie! Great idea to make this for your iso bday! Yep, you can totally halve the recipe - if you don't have a smaller cake tin, it'll just make less layers (or 1 big one which is fine). Choc ripple are the ones I used and they worked well! Let me know how you go and happy birthday in advance!
Great, thanks so much! One more q, what butter do you recommend for frosting?
For the frosting, I've used Naturli's block and Nuttelex Buttery and they both worked well :).
I made this cake for my 9 year olds birthday and it was amazing! The recipe was perfect and not too sweet. Thanks for sharing yet another brilliant recipe.
Soo glad to hear Nicola!! What a treat it'd be for a 9 year old :). Thanks for the lovely comment xo
Another excellent recipe, which works to perfection! My family labelled this a Celebration Cake, and it definitely is a bit special. Such a good recipe with accurate and clear instructions. I wasn't sure about which vegan biscuits to use but opted for bourbon-type biscuits, which worked really well. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Aw that's amazing Sal! Celebration cake sounds so special and love that bourbon cookies worked for this recipe :). Thanks so much for your feedback xo
Hi, I need to make an eggless cake (not vegan). Can I please use regular sugar and butter as substitutes?
Thanks 🙂
Nadine
Yes you can 🙂
Hi!! does this cake freeze well? As I am making layers in advance before I assemble them a few days later??
Yes it does! As long as you cover it very well in the freezer, it'll be fine 🙂
Made this cake for a family party and it was a HIT ! they loved it.
Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
That's so great to hear Elena! Thanks for such a lovely comment xo