It has been over 100 years since the first Oreo was invented. One question that puzzles many until today is, “do Oreos contain real chocolate?”

Oreos are probably one of the oldest sandwich cookies existing in the world today. They have been among the best-selling cookies in the United States and continue to sell like hotcakes until today.

Oreos contain real chocolate but not in large amounts. They are heavily packed with cocoa, a key ingredient in chocolate. People, however, continue to argue that since the dark part of an Oreo is a cookie, it cannot be considered a bar of chocolate.

Since their existence, Oreos have had their fair share of advocates and adversaries. Some health experts warn against the number of calories, sugar, and fat they contain. Others argue whether Oreos should be considered chocolate cookies or not. But nearly everyone, from adults to kids, is fond of the taste and loves to devour bags of the product.

Experts believe that since Oreos cannot be manufactured without real chocolate, they do contain some chocolate. But the proportion of chocolate compared to other ingredients is not that high, and not all flavors of Oreos contain chocolate. This is one of the main reasons people argue that Oreos don’t contain chocolate.

Do Oreos Contain Real Chocolate?

The short answer to this question is, “it depends.”

We are sure you understand that Oreos is one of the biggest brands for cookies around the globe. The company that makes Oreos was founded over a hundred years ago. This company now makes many flavors for Oreos, and quite frankly, some of them have nothing to do with chocolate.

Take Oreo Golden, for instance. These are vanilla-flavored Oreos that made it to the store shelves in 2004. They replaced the chocolate-flavored biscuits with vanilla-flavored ones. Both traditional and Oreo Golden used the same crème filling. The difference between them is that Golden does not have any chocolate in the wafers.

Now, if someone has tasted Oreo Golden, they can argue that Oreos do not contain any chocolate. They will be partly true with their narrow perspective. But there are so many other Oreo cookies that contain real chocolate. Let us look at some of them:

• Oreo Chocolate Crème was launched in 2001 and became a favorite for chocolate lovers. It replaced the traditional white crème in the sandwich with a chocolate one.
• Oreo Mint Chocolate is a recent addition to the Oreo lineup. It made it to the store shelves in 2015. This flavor contains unusual ingredients in addition to chocolate, which includes lemon, mint, and cocoa.
• Double Stuf and Mega Stuf were launched in the 1970s. These variants claimed to double the amount of chocolate found in the cookie mix for the cookies.

This means that it is safe to consider Oreos to contain real chocolate. But it is also important to remember that some flavors contain no chocolate at all.

What Are Oreos Made Of?

Chocolate is one of the key ingredients used for manufacturing Oreos. But it is not the only ingredient. In fact, it only makes up a small proportion of the cookies.

Cocoa powder is another essential ingredient in Oreos. If you compare the proportions, an Oreo contains more cocoa than chocolate. The company heavily processed the cocoa, which gives the wafers their unique dark color. Refined sugar and unbleached flour are also used in the production process. These come in different combinations, including wheat flour, folic acid, reduced iron, etc.  

Other ingredients include canola oil, palm oil, soy lecithin, corn syrup, and a bunch of artificial flavorings. Lastly, a blend of baking soda and calcium is also used in the process.

How Much Chocolate Does An Oreo Cookie Contain?

Chocolate is a crucial ingredient in cookies like Oreo. It helps enhance and shape the flavor of the cookie. As discussed above, not all Oreos contain chocolate, but these are a few. The majority of Oreos contain chocolate, and some contain more than others.

Cocoa is a primary ingredient that is used to manufacture chocolate. Oreo manufacturers prefer to use cocoa in their concoction rather than real chocolate. This allows them to customize the flavor better and come up with the signature Oreo flavor that continues to be loved across the globe.

Overall, Oreos rely more on cocoa than they do on real chocolate. They contain large amounts of cocoa that is heavily processed, which means there is only a tiny amount of real chocolate present in the cookie.

Why Don’t Oreos Taste Chocolaty?

One of the most popular flavors among chocolate lovers is the Chocolate crème. It replaces the traditional vanilla crème in the middle of the sandwich with a chocolaty crème that is brown in color. Many perceive this crème to comprise large amounts of chocolate, but this is not the case.

The crème also contains some real chocolate, but the majority of it is made of processed cocoa. As for the wafer, the company prefers to use raw cocoa for the crème because it allows them to make customizations to the flavor. If they depended heavily on real chocolate, the flavor of the cookies and the crème would also be determined by the chocolate they were using.

Oreos taste sweet and slightly chocolaty but do not taste anything like real chocolate. This is because they contain large amounts of cocoa and other ingredients and very little amounts of real chocolate. Even the cocoa is heavily processed, which causes it to lose the bitter and chocolaty taste it originally possessed.

Does This Mean Oreos Are Vegan?

Again, it depends. Two ingredients can be considered slightly controversial when it comes to rating the cookies as vegetarian. These two ingredients are derivatives of milk and honey.

Honey is used as a flavoring in the Oreo Mint variant, and derivatives of milk are used in the cookie dough to get the right consistency. We cannot classify Oreos as 100% vegetarian due to the presence of these two ingredients.