Skip to content

The Cookie Question

Can you open an Oreo cookie and get the same amount of creamy filling on both sides? One scientist wanted to find out.

© Max Fan

The Oreometer has a clamp that grips both sides of the Oreo and uses coins to split it apart.

Crystal Owens had a dream. She wanted to be able to twist open an Oreo sandwich cookie and find an even amount of the creamy filling on each side. But could this ever happen? Owens decided to find out.

Owens is a scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She likes Oreos, but every time she opens one, the famous Oreo creme ends up on one side only. Owens had questions. Why doesn’t the creme get split evenly so that it ends up on both sides? Is there a trick to make this happen? 

Owens and other scientists tested Oreo after Oreo. They tried dunking the Oreos in milk before opening them. They tried using a machine to spin the wafers in opposite directions, which is the same as twisting the cookie open really fast. They even tried twisting open Double Stuf Oreos, which contain more creme filling. Sometimes the creme ended up on just one wafer, while the other wafer was bare. Other times, the creme ended up on both wafers but covered only half of each wafer. 

Owens now believes it’s nearly impossible to twist an Oreo and get even amount of filling on both of the wafers. 

“It turns out there’s not really a trick to it,” Owens told Popular Science. “Everything you try to do will get mostly a clean break. It’s a bit disappointing that there’s not some secret twist.”

There’s one thing Owens didn’t try. She didn’t heat the cookies before twisting them open. Owens suspects that once the filling gets warmer, it might separate more easily.

But no one wants a hot Oreo cookie!

Fun Fact Icon

Fun Fact

A package of candy corn Oreos with a glass of milk

Mike Mozart, TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia (CC BY 2.0)

Oreo cookies come in different flavors. Some of the weirder ones have included cherry cola, hot & spicy cinnamon, candy corn, and waffles and syrup. Would you dare to try these?

Dessert First

No matter where you go, you can find something sweet to eat. Here are just a few desserts from around the world.

  • Tong Sui (China)

    image-1

    Tong sui is a warm dessert soup. You can get it with fruits, nuts, beans, sesame seeds, or other ingredients.

  • Baseema (Sudan)

    What makes this yellow cake extra moist? Yogurt! It also has coconut and a sweet, lemon glaze.

    image-1
  • Rice Kheer (India)

    image-1

    Kheer is a type of rice pudding that’s made with rice, milk, sugar, and spices. Some cooks also like to add dried fruits and nuts.

  • Tres Leches Cake (Latin America)

    Tres leches means “three milks,” and this moist sponge cake contains evaporated milk, condensed milk, and whole milk.

    image-1
  • Pastel de Nata (Portugal)

    image-1

    This tart (a type of pastry) is filled with a sweet, creamy filling called custard and sprinkled with cinnamon.

tong sui – © Ppy2010ha/Dreamstime.com; kheer – © Gaurav Masand/Dreamstime.com; baseema – © Sergii Koval/Dreamstime.com; tres leches – © Sergii Koval/Dreamstime.com; nata – © Viennetta/Dreamstime.com

A Different Kind of Cookie

© The Time Lapse Company—Verve/Getty Images

A time lapse of chocolate chip cookies baking

Who invented the chocolate chip cookie?

Word of the Day Icon

Word of the Day

confection

Part of speech:

noun

Definition:

: a very sweet food

Definitions provided by
Merriam-Webster Logo
Game Icon

Play

Answer the clues and fill in the boxes.

O
O
O

In Case You Missed It

Scientists have identified a species of saber-toothed mammal that lived about 42 million years ago.

05.13.22

All over the world, people love Xeo Chu’s paintings.

05.10.22

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Mabel Lee was an immigrant from China who helped women win the right to vote in the U.S.

05.06.22

There was a solar eclipse last month. Did you miss it? That could be because this eclipse was viewed from Mars!

05.03.22