Strawberry Oreo Truffles

Oreos – For the base of the filling, use Oreo cookies, specifically the regular Golden Oreos. Do not use Oreo Thins or Double or Mega stuffed versions as that throws off the ratio of filling to crushed cookie.

Cream Cheese – Be sure to use an 8-ounce, full-fat block of cream cheese here, softened. This adds moisture and a tang to the flavor.

Strawberry – Be sure to use freeze-dried strawberries here. I do not recommend fresh or frozen strawberries as they add too much liquid to the filling. Also make sure these are freeze-dried and not dried and sweetened strawberries as they act very differently. These are usually sold where you find dried fruits like raisins, but if you have trouble finding them, you can substitute a package strawberry pudding mix.

Candy Coating – I try to avoid calling this “white chocolate” because it’s actually vanilla flavored almond bark. This contains no white chocolate and is mostly sugar, oil, and nonfat dry milk. Because you’re using a full pound, this is a cost-effective way to go and very commonly used in dipped, candy coated desserts like strawberries and pretzels. For alternative chocolate options, read the variations below.

Prep the Cookie Centers

The prep for these strawberry shortcake truffles goes by quickly. Add most of the Golden Oreos to a food processor and pulse until they’re crushed into small pieces.

Dump the crushed cookies into a mixing bowl, then add about 6-8 reserved cookies and all the freeze-dried strawberries to the food processor. Pulse until the strawberries become a powder. Dump this into the same mixing bowl and give everything a thorough mix.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can place the cookies in a large plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin or meat mallet and the strawberries in a coffee/spice grinder. Alternatively, you can use a blender, but you’ll need to keep shaking or moving the ingredients around to fully crush them.

Open the cream cheese and use a knife to cut the block into smaller chunks and add them to the mixing bowl with the crushed cookies and strawberry powder. Mix the cream cheese into the rest either by hand or with a hand blender on medium speed until thoroughly combined with no dry spots.

Eyeball small balls of mix or use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out the mixture. Roll into smooth balls and place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Place them into the freezer for 30 minutes to make them cold and firm before dipping.

Dip and Decorate the Outside Shell

When it’s almost time to remove the cookie mixture from the freezer, prepare the candy coating. If using sprinkles or sanding sugar, have them close at hand and ready to use.

Whatever you use as a dipping chocolate, follow the package instructions for melting. If you’re using vanilla almond bark, place it in a heatproof bowl and microwave for 2 minutes at 50% power. Give it a stir and if it’s not fully melted, microwave some more in 15-20 second bursts until smooth.

Dip the frozen cookie centers into the melted chocolate/candy coating and place them back onto the cookie sheet. Use either candy dipping tools, two forks, or a fork and toothpick to dip the frozen balls into the coating and let the excess dip drip off.

If decorating with sprinkles or sanding sugar, add to the top immediately after placing the candies back onto the cookie sheet. If you plan to decorate with different colored drizzles, then allow the candy to fully set first.

To make different colored drizzles, dip and coat all the truffles and wait for them to set. This should only take a few minutes. Melt the candy coating again and add red or pink food coloring to it. The easiest way to decorate is to add the coating to a plastic bag and push it all towards a corner. Snip a small hole into the corner of the bag and gently squeeze it out over top of the truffles.

The more fancy and different ways you wish to decorate, the more work is involved. You’ll likely need to keep moving the truffles back to the freezer as they thaw and remelt the candy coating. If you can get help with making them, you can move a lot faster.

Once finished, you can use a sharp knife to remove any large pools at the bottom of the truffles to make them look prettier or more professional if you like. Place them into the refrigerator and serve them cold or at room temperature but still cool.

Gluten-Free – You can easily make these GF by using the gluten-free version of golden Oreos. Double check the almond bark or other candy/chocolate coatings, but most of those should be ok to use. They usually mention “contains soy” but that’s usually soy lecithin, which is naturally gluten-free unlike most soy sauces.

Strawberry – As mentioned above, I do not recommend using fresh or frozen strawberries. Freeze-dried strawberries provide an easily blended, concentrated flavor. If you have trouble finding it, however, you can replace it with strawberry pudding mix/gelatin mix but do not follow the instructions to make it, just use the powder. Another option is to use a bit of pink or red food dye with 2 teaspoons of strawberry extract.

Candy Coating – Vanilla flavored almond bark is sold in 16oz packages and is a great, economical choice for dipping. To more easily make different colors, candy melts can be an easy swap as well. The ingredients are almost the same as almond bark though. If you want an actual white chocolate flavor to make a real chocolate coating, however, I will use white chocolate baking bars. This is a much more expensive option though, as they are sold on average for about $1 less than back, but are only 4-ounces, so you’ll need 4 of them.

Food Processor – Great for many different uses, a decent food processor makes the preparation process for these truffles much easier. While you can try a blender or doing it by hand, a food processor this much easier, especially with freeze-dried strawberries.

Candy Making Tools – Again, most people can get by using a two-fork method or a fork and/or toothpick method. However, specialized candy making tools can make the dipping process a lot easier.

Spice Grinder – If you don’t have a food processor, you can still crush the Oreos easily by hand. However, the freeze-dried strawberries really need a food processor, coffee grinder, or spice grinder to blend into powder. If you have neither of these tools as an option, I suggest using strawberry gelatin or pudding mix instead.

❄️ How to Store Oreo Truffles

Once the strawberry Oreo truffles have fully set, you’ll want to store them in the refrigerator because of the cream cheese filling. Remove from the cookie sheet and place into airtight containers. If storing them stacked in 2-3 layers, separate the layers with wax paper.

Stored in the refrigerator, strawberry shortcake truffles should easily last 2-3 weeks. When serving, you can serve them cold straight from the fridge or let them sit out at room temperate for 5-10 minutes to make them easier to bite into. Because of the filling, don’t leave them out for more than 2-3 hours.

For longer storage, these also freeze well. Store in airtight containers as above and place them into freezer for 2-3 months. Alternatively, you can place them on a baking sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours, then remove the truffles and gently add them all to a freezer safe bag and place them back into the freezer.