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Someone1 didn't re-close the Oreo bag properly, and now the remaining cookies are kinda... not-quite-crispy. They're not soft, but they have this chewy side to their crunch.

If these were ordinary cookies, I'd pop them in the oven for a few minutes, but I have this thing where I like my creme filling to be inside my cookies, not melted all over the baking sheet. I'm funny that way.

Is there any way to make these cookies crispy again, or do I make the offending party2 eat this bag and get a new bag for, um, the non-offending parties?

If it makes any difference, these are peanut butter Oreos.

1: //shamefaced It was probably me.
2: hanging head in shame

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    Make a peanut butter Oreo milkshake, learn from your mistake, and NEVER DO ANYTHING SO FOOLISH AGAIN!
    – ElendilTheTall
    Commented Sep 4, 2014 at 15:34
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    If no one has a way to revive them ... you can break them up, then mix them w/ cool whip into softened vanilla ice cream. (this is how we used to make 'cookies and cream' ice cream before the ice cream companies started releasing it professionally)
    – Joe
    Commented Sep 4, 2014 at 15:35
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    I second @Joe's idea, but say you should just go ahead and make the ice cream. If you don't already have an ice cream maker, you now have a great excuse to get one! As far as your cookies, you can say, "I meant to do that." This one topped ATK ratings as a "Best Buy" and is the one I own. I love it.
    – Jolenealaska ♦
    Commented Sep 5, 2014 at 12:30
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    I wonder if the old "stick them in a jar of rice for a few days" would work here? That does wonders for pool-dunked cell phones. Microwave's a definite no, and I can't think of any other common household dessicant.
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Commented Sep 5, 2014 at 12:52
  • You can lick all the creams before putting them into oven.
    – 5argon
    Commented Sep 10, 2014 at 19:43

5 Answers 5

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Put the bag in front of an air conditioner for a few minutes. Worked like a champ for Oreos and chips that went stale over a humid weekend in a desk drawer.

This was a window unit- I arranged to blow the cold air into the bag. Was amazed with the results.

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    Sounds very McGyver-ish and fun...
    – Stephie ♦
    Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 7:23
  • Oy, now I'm really tempted to leave out some cookies just so I can try this out. Problem is, it's December, and the air conditioners have been packed away.
    – Marti
    Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 16:06
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    This really does work! This time, they were Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Oreos, and the unclosed package was emphatically Not My Fault, but nevertheless, putting them in front of the air conditioner for just 10 minutes made them crispy again.
    – Marti
    Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 5:10
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Since the problem is caused by the humidity absorbed by the cookies left opened, the solution would be to remove that water. Putting in an hoven at very low temperature could help the process but there's a risk of melting the inside. Another option would be to use a dehumidifier. The problem with this solution is that usually this kind of appliance are supposed to suck humidity inside a room and thus it won't target specifically your cookies unless you manage to find a way to contain the target area. Maybe you could try with some small chemical dehumidifiers and seal them with the cookies in a bag for a while. There are some options but ultimately if you think about it, are they really worth the effort just to clean your conscience :) ? In my opinion you should just mark this lesson and use the cookies for another preparation like a milkshake as other suggested or a cake, afterall they're still absolutely edible.

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  • You could also try putting them in the fridge for a day or two to dry them out.
    – James McLeod
    Commented Sep 5, 2014 at 10:53
  • I would think that anything that dries out the cookie part will dry out the filling too :(
    – Rake36
    Commented Sep 5, 2014 at 11:34
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    A food dehydrator might work -- and I think the filling is fat, not water, so won't be as prone to drying out.
    – Joe
    Commented Sep 5, 2014 at 14:11
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Preheat the oven to 300F. Scrape out the filling into a bowl. Put the cookies on an ungreased, filling side up in case there is still a bit of filling on the cookie. Bake for 5 minutes. The cookies will come out soft but that's okay. Let cookies cool completely. As they cool, they should harden. To reapply filling, heat filling in microwave in 5second intervals until filling is soft and pliable. (Stir filling each time, much as you would when melting chocolate.) Scoop filling into icing bag and pipe onto cookies. The filling solidifies quickly so work fast. If you melted the filling too much, wait a while before application.

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  • Love the idea... wonder how much frosting you could harvest from a pack, this might be a cheap vegan frosting for other projects :)
    – rackandboneman
    Commented Nov 22, 2016 at 10:37
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Try putting them in a bag of rice. It's a widely known trick when dealing with wet electronics, rice absorbs moisture and should make your cookies crispy again.

There might be some grains of rice stuck to the filing afterwards, though.

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    Interesting idea. Not entirely sure that it will work - rice is starch, cookies are also starch, so maybe the starch in rice won't be hygroscopic enough to "pull" it out from the cookies, but who knows. Easy enough to try.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Commented Sep 9, 2014 at 19:20
  • I kinda already ate the evidenc[ahem, sorry] the cookies in question. Short of leaving out some more Oreos until they turn not-quite-crunchy, I'm not sure how to test this idea. Anybody else wish to sacrifice some cookies to the cause?
    – Marti
    Commented Sep 9, 2014 at 19:52
  • Maybe I. I ran out of rice. Hopefully in some days my parents will bring me some buckets of rice...
    – Ching Chong
    Commented Sep 9, 2014 at 21:13
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Just pop them in the freezer for 30 minutes (overnight is better) and eat them cold.

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  • This is the answer. The freezer isn't even necessary--after opening, just stick them in the fridge. Mine were disgustingly soft and chewy, but since I've put them in the fridge, they've been good as new
    – velkoon
    Commented Oct 29, 2023 at 21:35

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