Joy the Baker

Cookies and Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies

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stack of cookies and cream cookies on a rack with glass of milk

Recipe updated June 29th, 2021.  This Cookies and Cream Cookie is one of the best chocolate chip cookies and one of the mosts popular recipes on Joy the Baker and has been updated in images and recipes!  Please leave reviews and comment below as you make and enjoy these fine cookies! xo Joy

I have this tooth whistle.  One of my teeth, maybe it’s two… in combination with my tongue and the letter ‘s’… it whistles.  

That’s a weird way to start a cookie recipe.  With a tooth whistle.  

It’s an elusive whistle.  It arrives unexpectedly with the sound of an ‘s’, just every few months.  One short whistle and it’s gone again only to surprise with its presence months later.  Something about the stars aligning just so.  

I’m always delighted by its presence.  Like I’m part bird and party fairy for just half a second.  I think so hard about what I’m trying to say that when part of it comes out as a whistle… well that’s just a bonus.  

I know it’s just a tooth whistle.  But I’ve come to cherish it.  

I mention my tooth whistle today for two reasons, because… I was thinking about it, and that’s how this whole blog things works.  You have to endure banal stories about my teeth in order to get the very best cookie recipes.  But also… a truly stellar, gooey, delicious, addictive, PERFECT cookie recipe is as elusive and delightful as a tooth whistle.  The stars have aligned and our cookie is here.  

Chocolate Chip Cookie ingredients measured and separated in bowls

Here’s What You’ll Need To Make Cookies and Cream Cookies: 

•  unsalted butter and cream cheese, both softened to room temperature

•  brown sugar

•  powdered milk (which will lend a creaminess and chewy texture to the cookies)

•  all-purpose flour or an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend

•  baking soda, baking powder, and salt

•  a large egg

•  vanilla extract

•  milk chocolate chips (though white chocolate chips are fun, too!) and Oreo cookies coarsely chopped

Dry ingredients for cookie batter whisked together in a medium bowl.

If you’ve ever wondered:

How To Make The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

well there are two possible answers: browned butter and/or cream cheese.  

Browned butter adds a nutty richness to the cookies as evidenced by Dad’s Perfect Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie.

For today’s incredible chocolate chip cookie we’re using:CREAM CHEESE to make a tender, moist, and divinely rich cookie.  Perfectly chewy around through the center and crisp around the edges.  

Softened butter and cream cheese whipped together in a bowl.

Start these chocolate chip cookies by first whipping the softened butter and cream cheese together in a medium bowl. 

The two fats have slightly different consistencies so to ensure the two play nice together, ensure that they’re both very soft. This might even mean popping the cream cheese in the microwave for a few seconds to get any chill off. 

Brown sugar and an egg being added to creamed butter for cookies.

Secondly, we beat the brown sugar and an egg into the butter and cream cheese mixture. 

Vanilla extract beaten into cookie batter in a bowl.

Lastly, before we add the dry ingredients we’ll beat in a dash of vanilla extract.  

You’ll notice that the batter feels almost stretchy! That’s the cream cheese doing us a great favor and the start of perfectly chewy cookies. 

Next, in a small bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.  Whisk the flour, milk powder, leavening, and salt in a separate bowl (even though it dirties another bowl ugh I know!) to ensure that all the ingredients are evenly combined preventing over-beating the cookie dough. 

Add the dry ingredients all at once to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until just combined. 

Lastly, stir in the Oreo pieces and chocolate chips.  

The best cookies and cream cookie batter in a medium bowl to chill.

You may find that powdered milk is a bit grainy. Not to worry, it will absorb the liquid in the batter and ease before baking. 

Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour before baking to re-chill the fats and allow the flour and milk powder to settle and absorb the liquids.  

Portion the dough balls into generous tablespoon size portions and place a few inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. 

Bake at 35p until just golden around the edges. I like these chocolate chip cookies a tad under baked and just a touch gooey in the center.  

Cool what you don’t eat straight from the oven on a baking rack!  

Cookies and Cream Cookies on a cooling rack.

Print

Cookies and Cream Cookies Chocolate Chip Cookies

Stack of the best chocolate chip cookies on a cooking rack with glass of milk

The best chocolate chip cookie recipe made with milk chocolate chips and big chunks of Oreo cookies. A chewy on the inside and crisp around the edges perfect cookie inception. 

  • Author: Joy the Baker
  • Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 32 minutes
  • Yield: about 24 cookies 1x
  • Category: cookies, dessert

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 oz. (half a block) cream cheese, well softened
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick, 113 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup (200 grams) light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (62 grams) dry milk powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups coarsely chopped Oreo cookies (about 18–20 cookies)
  • 1 cup (170 grams) milk chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and butter until light and creamy, about a minute. Make sure that both the cream cheese and butter are very well softened to avoid any lumps. Add the brown sugar and egg and beat on medium-low speed for 3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in vanilla.
  2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, milk powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
  3. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in the chopped Oreos and milk chocolate chips.
  4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap (or cover the bowl in plastic wrap) and refrigerate for at least 1 hours, or overnight.
  5. Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  6. Spoon out dough balls – a heaping tablespoonful of dough for each cookie. Place on the prepared baking sheets, providing at least 1 1/2 inches between each cookies. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, until edges begin to brown but the middle is still a bit gooey! Cool before serving to allow them to hold their shape.
  7. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for as long as your will power will allow. 

Notes

  • This recipe can also be made GF with an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend from Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour. 

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 24

Keywords: chocolate chip cookies, cookies and cream, cookies, chocolate, joy the baker, easy baking, dessert,

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Photos with the wonderful Jon Melendez.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Catherine

    I’ve now made these several times and they are my favorite cookie to bake AND eat! The first time I made them they looked exactly as they do in the picture. Every time after that they have refused to spread out while baking. I have no idea what changed, but I’m hoping to figure it out next time! In any case, these cookies are so delicious that it truly does not matter how much they spread. I’m obsessed and so is everyone else I share them with. :)

    Reply

  2. Matt

    Needed to leave a comment to let you know these are my favorite cookies ever and I keep making them and sharing the recipe with everyone I know. Thanks!!

    Reply

  6. Dori

    I know the milk powder adds a certain something to the cookies, but would the cookies come out alright if it was left out of the recipe? I don’t have milk powder and never buy it.

    Reply

  10. Mary Stathis

    NEED THE BREAKDOWN OF THE COOKIE(MILK CHOCOLATE COOKIES AND CREAM) PER CARBS,CALORIES, ETC. TO HELP MY TYPE 1 GRANDCHILD EAT THEM WITH SAFE INFO
    GRANDMA MARY

    Reply

  13. donna hamilton

    it is more helpful to have comments from people who have actually baked these. is there a way to segregate the “sounds wonderful” from the more p practical questions about ingredients and baking results

    Reply

  18. Molly

    My husband’s favorite cookie, called a Dalmatian cookie, comes from a bakery up the street. For his birthday, I wanted to recreate something similar at home and I stumbled across this recipe. The only change I made (to make to more similar to the bakery) was do half chocolate and half white chocolate chips. This recipe is PERFECT! Both of us absolutely loved them. Easy to make and extremely easy to eat (sometimes 3 at a time)!! Thanks for sharing, these are amazing!

    Reply

  20. Jessica Nuttall

    I made these cookies yesterday, and WOW! I didn’t listen, and sampled some cookie dough, and almost ended up eating the entire batch of cookie dough! So yummy! I made my cookies quite large–because I get really lazy after the first batch, but YUM! These were amazing cookies and I will definitely be making these again! SO DELICIOUS!

    Reply

  21. Amanda

    So, I haven’t baked them yet, I am a dough eater so I threw caution to the wind and ate some. Now, I can’t leave a recipe alone…while I’m sure your recipe is all kinds of tasty I still messed with it a shade. Mostly because I wasn’t willing to go buy milk chocolate chips or milk powder. I used coconut milk powder cause it’s hella good. I then used dark chips cause I had them and then I added a half a cup of unsweetened fine coconut shreds. I’m not going to lie….I’ve eaten most of the extra Oreos and a fair amount of the dough. Thank you for posting this recipe it has changed my life!

    Reply

  22. Jade

    Just made these and they are so tasty! I’m just a lil bummed that mine were somewhat dry. They also had some height to them. I’m wondering if it makes a difference in the texture if you flatten them down before baking?

    Reply

  25. Kevin M.

    I’ve made these a couple times now. I’m having a little trouble with the cookies getting overdone. I moved the oven rack up to the very top notches, and that seemed to help. My family even loves the burned ones, so you can imagine how wonderful the not-burned ones are! :-)

    Reply

  26. Amélie

    Hello! I’ve just made your chocolate&bacon cookies which are amazing and I can’t wait to make this recipe. The only is that the place where I’m gonna make them has no fridge…
    What will happen if I skip the “refrigerator step”?
    Thank you for such lovely recipes and pictures.

    Reply

  27. Betimedet

    Dear Joy,

    I’m having trouble with this fabulous recipe. I’ve attempted it three times but each time the cookies puff up in the oven vs spread out into a cookie-like shape. I’ve also noticed that my batter is thicker and way more pale than in your pictures. Any ideas?

    Happy thanksgiving!

    Reply

  28. Ethan

    Long-time fan, first time poster. Had a quick q: Want to make some for the office but I’m not sure if I should double it or not. What is the expected yield for this? A dozen? Two dozen?

    Reply

  29. Kerri

    Genius! These cookies are to die for! I was a little worried when the dough came out of the refrigerator still quite sticky, but the cookies baked up fat and chewy. A keeper for sure.

    Reply

  30. Caroline

    Hi! I was wondering if I could use dry coconut milk instead of dry milk powder? I know there will probably be a different taste but do you think it would still work the same? Thanks!

    Reply

  33. cori

    Soooo I made these about a month ago for inventory at work. We work until like 2am and count our store. I bake for every single one and these were a huge, crazy, insane hit. So this month I’m trying the same recipe but I cut the oreos out and the milk chocolate and replaced it with hardly-crushed cinnamon toast crunch and white chocolate. The dough is awesome!

    Reply

  34. lucy

    Hi Joy I’ve been dying to make these cookies. I live in Ireland and I’ve searched high and low for instant milk powder (or powdered milk) with no joy whatsoever. Is there any substitute you would suggest for this? Thanks so much in advance.

    Reply

  35. ei j

    when i try the oreo on my banana cupcake, it just that is not good or maybe something need to add. im just little confuse..

    Reply

  36. Maia

    Hi Joy! I apologize if the question is redundant but I’m really new to baking, these cookies are soooooo good, I was wondering if I could freeze the dough to bake at a later date?

    Reply

  38. Claudia's Cookbook

    I made these for a weekend at the cabin with some friends. They were a massive hit. So delicious. The cookies didn’t spread/flatten out as much as your photos, but that didn’t matter. They still turned out great!

    Reply

  39. Tina Llopis

    Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I have some – not all of these ingredients, but, they are now on my shopping list for tomorrow! I have made many different types of chocolate chip cookies, but these look so amazing! As soon as I bake them, I’ll write back! I. CAN’T. WAIT!

    Reply

  40. Eamonn Sterley

    So I take it this makes 12? Hiding the dough in the refrigerator – even making the dough is problematic as there is a genuine cookie monster in the home that insists on eating dough. “No words can soothe [her], no prayer remove [her], and I must hear forevermore”.

    Reply

  41. Gwen Watson

    Milk chocolate and cookies and cream are wonderful complements to each other. These cookies are a nice way to combine these ingredients. I also find that substituting dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate intensifies the chocolate flavors nicely.

    Reply

  42. Clarice

    These cookies are amazing! I’ve already made them twice and they keep getting better each time; however, my cookies don’t flatten and stay as a ball after they are scooped and baked in the oven. I’ve had to manually squash them down to achieve a flatter cookie. Do you have any tips to prevent this from happening?

    Reply

  45. Caroline Leigh

    Hi Joy! big fan here. I make lots of your recipes but hardly ever comment. I made these tonight and they were SO good….and you’re right about the dough! my curious mind wonders, and you are great at explaining the why’s and how’s of baking: why the milk powder? does it give the cookies a creamy taste? thanks!

    Reply

  46. Kelly

    I had some Red Velvet Oreo’s lingering in my pantry (because I’m a sucker for a new flavor) and I used this recipe with white chocolate chips – TOTAL HIT!! I brought them to work and I’ve never had a baked good disappear so fast! Thanks!!

    Reply

  49. dw

    I made these for a church meeting on Sunday, and they were a HIT. So delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe!! :)

    Reply

  50. Melissa

    Just had cream cheese-butter base cookies for the first time…and they were good, but now I am deeply regretting that I didn’t spot this recipe first. Going to buy some Oreos immediately!

    Reply

  51. joy

    Hello! I just baked these, however they didn’t turn out crispy and gooey though they looked promising to be when they came out! How do you know when to take these cookies out of the oven?

    Reply

  55. Sarah

    First, love the “part bird, part fairy” line in your post – what a delightful phrase! Second, what an incredible recipe!! I made these cookies to bring to dinner at a friend’s house and know they will be a big hit. They came out delicious! I had never baked with milk powder before, but something tells me it will become a regular staple in my baking. :-). Thanks for sharing this recipe!

    Reply

  63. Frankie

    I know this is a touch obnoxious – but thoughts on substitutes or omissions re: milk powder? I need to make these tonight and also really don’t need to venture to the store….

    Reply

  66. Theresa

    I read this blog post this morning, and I made them tonight. They came out of the oven not too long ago, and they are delicious! I’ll admit, when I first took a bite, I wasn’t sure what to think since my mind couldn’t make sense of the milk powder and cream cheese…yet. And then all the flavors came together and my brain got it! Eureka! A few things – I used reduced fat Oreos and didn’t notice that it compromised taste; and I couldn’t wait to eat them when they came out of the oven, but after letting them sit to cool a little longer, I definitely preferred them cooled since the cookie dough has time to set and instead of being soft, it has more of a bite and chew to it. My husband says it’s a keeper!

    Reply

  69. Theresa

    These look amazing, like I-must-make-tonight amazing. Question though – your recipe and the original recipe indicate using light brown sugar. However, your “light” brown sugar in your pictures actually look like “dark” brown sugar. Just making sure which I should use?

    Reply

  70. Ali

    these will be perfect for my series on chocolate chip cookies and finding the best recipe, every tuesday! you’ll definitely be getting a shoutout :)

    Reply

  78. Maryse

    Is there a way to leave out the milk powder? Because I think I need these in my life asap, but can’t have milk powder…

    Reply

  85. Robin

    Mother of Pearl! forget those ice cream bars–what wouldn’t I do for one of these? (Oh, who am I kidding–ONE?!)

    Reply

  87. Jenna

    OMG these look like the ultimate cookie!! I’ve never tried adding cream cheese to cookie dough, sounds great! Adding Oreos to anything can never turn out wrong!!

    Reply

  89. Sydney | Modern Granola

    So many mind-blowing things happening here! Cream cheese, milk powder, and cookies IN cookies! I’m in love. I’m curious if malted-milk powder would work in these as a substitute for milk powder? I am so looking forward to getting a taste of these!
    Brava!
    xx Sydney

    Reply

  90. Penny

    I love the part where you say “Don’t taste it!” You just know there wouldn’t be any left to bake!

    Reply

  92. Ashlyn

    OH MY GOODNESS!! These look incredible! Also, the idea of adding cream cheese to cookies thrills my heart! I’m so excited to try these!

    Reply

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