Oreos are one of the best cookies out there. I don’t think anyone can argue that.
They’re absolutely delicious, but they’re not necessarily the “healthiest” of cookies out there.
I mean, if you’re eating cookies, you’re likely not too worried about them being healthy or not. But when you find yourself 10 Oreos deep with no end in sight, you may begin to question your choices.
With these Healthy High-Protein Oreos, now you can eat as many as you want!
Well, you’ll still end up with a major stomach ache if you decide to eat this entire recipe, but you know what I mean.
How do these Protein Oreos stack up against regular Oreos? Well well well, I’m so glad you asked…
As you can see, our Healthy Protein Oreos come out on top in nearly every single category.
With 11g of protein and 160 calories, these are a great protein source.
The great thing about this recipe (one of many) is that you can make the healthy protein Oreos as large or small as you’d like. With this recipe I made 25 Oreo cookies that are comparable on size to regular Oreos, but you can easily scale them up or down.
The secret ingredient for Healthy Protein Oreos
Outside of the obvious ingredient of protein powder to make this high-protein, there is one very special ingredient we need: Black Cocoa Powder.
This is a special kind of cocoa powder that gives Oreos their black color.
But outside of just the color, it lends that very special Oreo cookie flavor to our recipe. It has a slight sweetness to it, so it isn’t nearly as bitter as regular cocoa powder.
If you’re in a pinch, you can use cocoa powder, but look for something like “Hershey’s Special Dark” instead of regular cocoa powder. This will create a darker color and flavor than regular cocoa powder.
But I highly recommend getting some Black Cocoa Powder from Amazon. If you’re worried about whether or not you’ll use it enough, I use plenty of Oreo-related recipes here on my blog to help you use it up!
How to make Healthy Protein Oreos
These protein Oreos are surprisingly easy to make, but there are a few tips and key ingredients we need to make it happen.
To start out, we’re going to mix up all of the ingredients for the Oreo cookie dough except for the protein powder.
I’ve learned that mixing the protein powder as the ingredient really goes a long way in creating a workable cookie dough. By adding the protein powder last, it limits the amount of stickiness and makes it much easier to work with.
Mix with a silicone spatula, but then get in there with your hands to fully form it into a dough.
Once the Oreo cookie dough is ready, we’re going to refrigerate it for about one hour. The chilling time is necessary to help firm up the dough to allow us to roll it out nice and thin.
After chilling the dough, you’ll use a rolling pin to roll it out thin. I like to break the dough up into 2 pieces to roll them out separately just to make things easier on a smaller surface.
Once the dough is rolled out thinly, you’ll cut the Oreo cookies out. I don’t have any cookie cutters, so I just used the cap from a jar of seasoning.
You can use anything you have- a shot glass, a cap, or a small lid.
Press down and twist to cut the circles out. Continue until you cannot create any more circles.
Take the leftover dough, form it back into a ball, and roll it out. Cut more circles out, and continue this process until all of the Oreo cookie dough has been used.
When all it said and done, I was able to cut out 50 Oreo cookies from my dough, but the exact number may vary depending on how large you make yours.
Bake the Oreo cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Once baked, leave them on a cooling rack to fully cool and harden. The cookies will still be a little bit soft when they’re hot out of the oven, but they’ll harden as they cool. One hour is generally a good amount of time to allow the Cookies to firm up.
If you were to bite the cookies right away, they wouldn’t be hard enough, so be patient!
The Oreo cookies end up having a slight crispiness to them but aren’t super crunchy. In other words, they are exactly the way an Oreo cookie should be.
While the cookies cool, we’ll mix the Oreo cream filling.
The cream filling mixture for this recipe is simply vanilla protein powder (highly recommend you use the same one I did, which is a blend of whey & casein protein. You can get yourself some PEScience and save 10% with the code “Matt”), butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
Mix it all up into a nice thick filling, then refrigerate it for the hour while the Oreo cookies cool.
Once the filling is chilled, it will be very easy to work with. Just break a piece off, roll it into a ball, and place on top of your Oreo cookies.
The filling should make the perfect amount for 25 Oreos.
Take the rest of your cookies and press down over the filling, and you’ll have yourself a delicious batch of healthy Oreo cookies.
Enjoy these healthy protein Oreos right away, or store them in the fridge to enjoy them as leftovers.
In order to keep these Oreos fresh, it’s ideal to keep them refrigerated, but they can be enjoyed at room temperature as well.
Keep these stored in the fridge and pack them up in Ziploc bags to take with you during the day as a snack, and they will hold up very well.
High-Protein Oreos (Sugar-Free & Gluten-Free)
Healthy Oreos? Yes please. These homemade Protein Oreos are the real deal. A serving of these is 135 calories, only 9g net carbs, packs 9g of quality protein in, and is completely gluten-free!
Ingredients
Cookie Ingredients
- 120g Oat Flour
- 25g Black Cocoa Powder
- 45g (1.5 Scoops) Chocolate Whey/Casein Blend Protein Powder- Use the code "Matt" to save 10% on PEScience
- 45g Granular Sugar Substitute
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 84g Butter Spread/Light Butter (I use "Country Crock Original Spread")
- 2 Tbsp Sugar-Free Syrup
Oreo Cream Ingredients
- 48g Butter Spread/Light Butter (I use "Country Crock Original Spread")
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 45g (1.5 Scoops) Vanilla Whey/Casein Blend Protein Powder- Use the code "Matt" to save 10% on PEScience
- 45g Powdered Sugar Substitute
Instructions
- Mix up all the ingredients for the dough except the protein powder.
- Add the protein powder as the very last ingredient and mix until it forms a thick Oreo cookie dough.
- Refrigerate the dough for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove the dough from the oven and lightly knead it in your hands to soften (your hands may turn a little bit black, but don't worry: it rinses off very easily).
- Break the dough up into 2 pieces to make things easier, then roll the dough out thin.
- Using a small cookie cutter or cap (I used a cap to a jar of seasoning), cut Oreo cookies out of the dough. Press the cap or cookie cutter down and rotate, then add each cookie to a baking sheet. Continue until you cannot cut any more circles out, then re-form the dough that is left over to make as many cookies as possible. You should get 50 small cookies.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven, then let them cool on a cooling rack for about 1 hour to firm up.
- While the cookies sit, make the Oreo cream filling. Simply mix together all of the ingredients in a large bowl until you have a nice thick mixture. Refrigerate the filling for one hour while the Oreo cookies cool.
- Once the cookies have hardened and the cream filling is chilled, you can assemble your cookies. Break off a piece of the cream filling, roll it into a ball, and place it on top of 25 of the cookies. Sandwich another cookie over the top and press down.
- Store any leftover cookies in the fridge to keep them fresh and enjoy them throughout the week.
Notes
- I use a whey/casein protein blend, but whey protein should also work for this recipe. Plant-based protein is tricky and likely won't work as a 1:1 replacement, unfortunately. To see how different protein powder affects cookie recipes, check out my Ultimate Protein Powder Substitution Guide.
- When I first made this recipe I made 10 large cookie sandwiches instead of 25. The cooking instructions were exactly the same, but if you want a larger serving size, you can go that route.
- I do not count sugar substitutes in my carb totals. If you are strict with your carbs, be sure to include those.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 25 Serving Size 1 OreoAmount Per Serving Calories 55Total Fat 3gCarbohydrates 4gProtein 4g
Scott
Friday 8th of March 2024
I’m confused on the math here… 45g protein powder per recipe 25 cookies
45/25 = 1.8
That’s under 2g protein per cookie, not 4g as stated.
What am I missing here?
Matt Rosenman
Monday 11th of March 2024
That's for just the cookies- the filling also contains the same amount of protein. But it's not 45 grams of protein, it's 45 grams of protein powder, and the protein content is different. That said, other ingredients also contain protein (like oat flour), which contributes to the overall protein content.
Tony
Thursday 9th of March 2023
Thoughts on using PE Science's cookies & cream flavor of whey/casein blend?
Matt
Friday 10th of March 2023
You absolutely can, I just personally don't love that flavor of protein powder (I find it too sweet) so I don't use it