I absolutely love an icebox cake. They’re easy, delicious, and are a fun and different dessert. And I’ll admit to being a purist when it comes to the cool confection. The old fashioned version with Nabisco chocolate wafers and whipped cream is my favorite. But those wafers can be really hard to find and when you do find them, they’re usually pretty expensive. Enter the Oreo Thin. Y’all know my obsession with everything Oreo (Oreo Delight, Oreo Ice Cream), so it’s probably no surprise I’m the one searching the stores each time a new Oreo flavor comes out. For me, most of them haven’t really compared to the original, but that’s not the case with the Oreo thins. I really love the crisp thin cookie and while I’m usually Double Stuff guy, the amount of cream in the Thins is perfect too. But I’m getting off topic here… they’re good. You get the point.
Anyway, I wanted to make a dessert for Sunday dinner last week and went out searching for the Nabisco chocolate wafers to make an icebox cake. Four stores and a quarter tank of gas later, I had no chocolate wafers for my cake. Then I remembered the new Thins. “These would be perfect,” I thought. And perfect they were. Plus, they’re so much easier to find. Let me show you how to make this beauty…
But first, let me say this… 1. Yes, it takes 4 packages of Oreos and Oreos can be expensive. My advice is to watch for them to go on sale or BOGO at the grocery store and make it then. Or just buy 4 packages or Oreos and move on. When you consider all the ingredients it would take to make a traditional cake, it probably about balances out. 2. Yes you can half the recipe. It halves perfectly and you’ll just have a shorter cake. 3. Yes it takes a little time to get this thing sitting pretty and keep it in a round shape, but that’s just it. It’s just about taking your time, not about any great skill. And if it doesn’t look pretty, it will still taste great. So don’t get to caught up in the look. 🙂
Start by adding the whipping cream to a mixing bowl and whip it with a hand or stand mixer until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix until it is incorporated.
In a small bowl, stir the softened cream cheese until smooth. If you need to, zap the cream cheese in the microwave to get it super soft, just allow it to cool completely before adding it to the whipped cream.
With the mixer on, gradually add the softened cream cheese to the whipped cream and mix until it is well incorporated.
Choose a plate or pedestal that will fit into your refrigerator with the cake on it, because this will have to stay refrigerated. Take 12 Oreos an arrange them in a circle on the plate – 9 cookies on the outside ring, 3 in the middle.
Then lift each Oreo and put a little whipped cream on the bottom and stick it to the plate in its position.
Next top the Oreo layer with a layer of whipped cream. I used about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup between each layer. Spread it thin, leaving a little bit of each Oreo exposed on the edge.
Stack another layer of 12 Oreos on the whipped cream – being sure to stagger them in each layer. That helps to keep the cake together. Stacking the Oreos on top of one another would allow it to fall apart.
Keep staking and layering until you’ve used nearly all the Oreos. You’ll probably end up with a couple extra. Those are your reward for your hard work and they’ll help to satisfy you for a little while being that this baby has to chill for at least 4 hours. 🙂 Temptation can be fierce. 🙂
Once it’s put together, you’ll need to refrigerate it for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight. The cookies will absorb the moisture from the whipped cream and will soften to allow you to cut it perfectly – just like a cake. Y’all enjoy!
Recipe Card
Oreo Icebox Cake
Ingredients
- 4 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese - softened (almost melted)
- 4 (10.1-ounce) packages Oreo Thins
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix well to combine.
- In a small bowl, stir the softened cream cheese until smooth. The cream cheese can be softened in the microwave, but allow it to cool completely before adding it to the whipped cream. Gradually add the softened cream cheese to the whipped cream and mix well to combine.
- On a cake plate, arrange 12 cookies in a layer with 9 in the outer circle and 3 in the middle. Once arranged, lift each cookie and add a little whipped cream to the bottom then stick it back to the plate. Repeat until all the cookies have been secured. Top with 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the whipped cream spread to the edges but allowing the edges of the cookies to be exposed. Add another layer of cookies on top of the whipped cream being sure to stagger the cookies on top of the ones below - don't stack them right on top of one another. Repeat the layers until all the cookies have been used.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight. Slice and serve as you would any other cake. Keep chilled.
Notes
Please note:
If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
ALDI has an Oreo Thins dupe that is delicious and very reasonably priced!
Sweet! Thanks for the tip!
This was good but VERY Rich and Very Sweet. If I were to make this again, I would omit the powdered sugar.
It certainly is sweet!
Was wondering how the vanilla thin Oreos would work?
They will certainly work, I’m just not sure how the flavor will be.
I am making this for July 4th and going to put a little red and blue sprinkles on the edges. Fingers crossed!
How festive!
I have been wanting to make a “chocolate wafer icebox pie” for years but it has been impossible to find Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers. Then I saw Oreo thins in the store & immediately had the same idea. Chalk it up to great minds think alike or there is nothing new under the sun.
Ha! Either way, it’s delicious!
Can I use standard Oreos cuz I live in Poland and there’s no ability to buy thins (Internet shops are too expensive)
I’ve only ever made it with the thin ones. My fear is that the regular Oreo’s are too thick to soften completely which would make it very difficult to cut.
Would it be possible to freeze this after assembling, transport it in a cooler, and allow to defrost and serve the next day? Thanks for this great recipe; I can’t wait to try it!
It seems like it should work fine in theory, though I’ve never tested it to be say for sure.
Yum!! This looks delicious!
Thanks, Tina!
I make a chocolate chip icebox cake that is like this one. You can do store bought or bake your favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It is divine, too! Everyone enjoys it. Many are questioning how to slice it without falling apart. After it sets for at least 4 hours..he recommends overnight, and, I agree. The cream mixture will soften the cookies, so when you cut the cake it doesn’t crumble..it stays moist like a cake. I can’t wait to try this one. Going to be on our Easter buffet for all to enjoy!
Thanks so much, Lynn! And you’re absolutely right, it cuts beautifully! Now onto to your version of the cake… I CAN’T WAIT to try it!
Hi Lynn, I’m very intrigued to try the chocolate chip version of this cake, as well as the Oreo. I’ll be making my own cookies, but wondering if it’s done the exact way? Exact filling? Exact a out of cookies and are the cookies placed right side up or upside down. Thanks so much!
How do you cut/slice it without it falling apart?
Nice it has chilled for the correct amount of time, you’ll have not trouble cutting it. The cookies soften and it cuts beautifully!
Looks so good and is so beautiful. I’m sure my Oreo loving husband would love this cake. As much as I like the looks of the cake I am totally loving the cake plate. It has to be one of the prettiest plates I have ever seen and the fact it’s a square one (my favorite) just adds to it.
Thanks so much, Karen! This cake is so delicious and that cake plate… my wife always jokes that I married her for it. 🙂
Stacey, I have a cake plate exactly like this.can you give me any information about it.Thanks
I wish I knew more. I love it, but essentially know nothing about it.
I wondered if you could use a springform pan and stack the cookies and cream mixture in it and then chilled it until it was set before removing the sides if that would help to keep it together. Of course it wouldn’t be as pretty but maybe you could “frost” the sides of the Oreo Cake with more of the whipped cream mixture and then sprinkle some Oreo crumbs over the top. Just a thought … 😀
Its’ certain a great idea, but the cake will be much taller than the pan. If you go that route, I’d recommend cutting the recipe in half. 🙂
Stacey you said keeping it round was the hard part then why not use a spring form pan? That would make it easy to keep round plus easy to take the sides off.
Well, you certainly can, but you’ll need to cut the recipe in half. This full recipe would make a cake much too tall for a spring form pan.
It looks delicious, but how does it slice, besides very carefully (lol) ? 🙂
Once it has time to set, the cookies soften and become almost cake like. It slices easily and beautifully! 🙂
OMG!! This is gorgeous and looks so amazingly good!! I am so anxious to try the recipe and think it will be for Easter weekend!!
If dont have whipping cream can you sometimes substitute whipped topping??
Thanks so much!
Absolutely! That would work perfectly. 🙂
This looks sinfully good. I would love to see what a slice of it looks like.
I’ll see what I can do. It slices beautifully!
Very impressive for such simple ingredients. It looks like a fancy pastry shop dessert. For a buffet or shower, I could even envision adding some mint leaves, cherries, flowers, etc. just to gild the lily.
Exaactly! Those are some great ideas to put it over the top!