NaBisCo’s Oreo biscuit has been around since 1912, and it is the bestselling cookie in the United States. Many people find the crème filling squashed between two chocolaty disks delectably irresistible, although over 362 billion Oreo cookies have been sold since their release, health enthusiasts have shunned the cookie. One may ponder what ingredients are in Oreo’s, and are the ingredients god for my health? Continue reading to find out.

Are Oreos Gluten Free?

Unfortunately, Oreos are not gluten free. As one of the ingredients within Oreos is enriched wheat flour, and gluten is composed of a mixture of wheat and grain proteins. Gluten helps to give dough elasticity, ensuring it rises properly, maintains its correct shape, and produces a chewy texture in the final product.

One serving of Oreo’s, or three Oreo cookies, contains 25 grams of carbohydrates, 14 grams of sugar, 7 grams of fat (of which 2 are saturated), 1 gram of protein, 150 mg of sodium, and trace amounts of iron and calcium.

Ingredients in Oreos

1. Sugar

Sugar is often used in baked food products as a preservative, helping to form and stabilize the structure within processed foods. High sugar intake within one’s diet is linked to many health conditions, including weight gain, obesity, and diabetes. Some also claim that there is an addictive element to sugar which can instigate cravings.

2. Unbleached Enriched Flour

Include wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin b1), riboflavin (vitamin b2), and folic acid.

This flour has been refined and stripped down to starch, and had the wheat germ extracted. This process causes it to lose many valuable vitamins and minerals which are replaced with additives and preservatives to prolong the products’ shelf-life. Unbleached enriched flour is classed as a refined carbohydrate, and cannot be absorbed by the human body. When asking the question – are Oreos gluten free? This ingredient ensures the answer to that question is a resounding no.

3. High Oleic Canola and/or Palm and/or Canola Oil

These oils are high in healthy monounsaturated fats, and low in saturated fats (whilst containing no trans fats whatsoever). When used in baked goods, this oil works to prolong the shelf-life of the product. Canola oil is often found in processed foods, especially baked or fried ones. Along with having good amounts of the right fats and negligible amounts of the bad, canola oil also contains omega-3 fatty acid.

4. Cocoa (Processed with Alkali)

Processing cocoa with alkali reduced the bitterness of the cocoa and darkens its color. This process causes the number of flavonoids within cocoa to reduce.

5. High Fructose Corn Syrup

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is made by extracting dextrose from corn syrup and converting it into fructose. This gives HFCS a much sweeter taste than corn syrup, and it is often used in processed foods because it is cheaper than sugar. The negative effects are plenty, for example, it is hard to digest (taking up to four days to be fully digested). The consumption of HFCS also has been linked to diabetes, increased cholesterol, hypertension, fatty liver disease, weight gain, and obesity.

6. Leavening (Baking Soda and/or Calcium Phosphate)

A leavening agent is a chemical mixture that is used in doughs and batters. They work to release gas into the dough and batter, which causes a foaming action when the chemicals reacting to heat, thus lightens and softens the baked product.

7. Cornstarch

Cornstarch is used in processed foods because of its great thickening abilities. The process of producing cornstarch involves removing the outside shell of corn kernels and then processing them to obtain what is known as endosperms, which are then being grounded into a white, fine, gritty texture. Although cornstarch can be considered gluten free, unless the enriched flour is removed from the cookies, the answer to the question – are Oreos gluten free? – remains no.

8. Salt

Baked food often contains more sodium content than naturally grown foods. Because salt is usually added during the manufacturing process to add flavor and prolong the shelf-life of the product.

9. Soy Lecithin

Soy lecithin is often used in baked and fried foods to emulsify fats. Those who are allergic to soy or lecithin should avoid consumption of soy lecithin.

10. Vanillin (Artificial Flavor)

Vanillin is often used to replace vanilla extract in many processed foods because it is cost effective and rich in flavor.

11. Chocolate

Any product that has been made from cocoa butter and cocoa solids is chocolate. In processed foods, chocolate has often been artificially sweetened via the use of a flavoring agent. In many cases, companies save on cost by reducing the amount of cocoa solid, replacing it with different fats.

How to Make Gluten Free Oreos at Home

Now that an answer has been cleared to the question – Are Oreos gluten free? Those wishing to avoid gluten may use the recipe below for gluten free Oreo cookies. The biscuit is made with almond flour, ensuring to maintain the typical crunch that one gets with store-bought Oreos. The filling is made mainly out of honey and coconut butter, as opposed to buttercream, which contains high amounts of sugar.

Ingredients

Cookie:

6 Oreo Cookies

½ cup + 6 tablespoons almond flour

¼ cup arrowroot powder

¼ cup raw cacao powder

4 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon full-fat, canned coconut milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons raw honey

Buttercream Filling:

3 tablespoons melted coconut butter*

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon raw honey

Method

Cookie:

1. Mix the almond flour, arrowroot powder, and raw cocoa powder in a medium sized bowl;
2. Grab a separate bowl and mix the butter with the full-fat, canned coconut milk, vanilla extract, and raw honey;
3. Stir the mixture from the second bowl into the almond flour mixture within the first bowl to combine, then refrigerate for fifteen minutes;
4. Remove the mixture from the fridge (it should have now formed a dough). Roll the dough into a ball shape and place it between two sheets of parchment paper, then press the dough to a thickness of around 1/8 of an inch;
5. Remove the top layer of parchment paper from the flattened dough, then place the dough onto a baking sheet;
6. Create circles with the dough (of around 2-inches) and bake in the oven at 350°F for around 9-11 minutes, or until they are light-gold in appearance;
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before transferring to a wire rack.

Buttercream Filling:

1. Mix all of the ingredients together (this process will be made much easier via the use of an electronic mixer);
2. Use a teaspoon to scoop the mixture onto one of the baked cookies (use one teaspoon of filling per Oreo), then place another cookie on top;
3. Store the homemade Oreos within an airtight container, in the fridge.

Notes:

*To melt coconut butter, put the coconut butter into a jar and place the jar within a large saucepan of simmering water. Once the coconut butter has melted, ensure to stir before use. One does not have to opt for store-bought coconut butter, it may in fact prove more cost effective to make your own. To do this, attain unsweetened shredded, dry coconut and blend within a high-speed blender until a creamy texture is achieved (similar to peanut butter).