Deep Fried Oreos Are A Newer Invention Than We Realized

Want to try a childhood snack deep-fried? Ever thought your Oreos would taste a lot better dipped in batter? Have you ever wanted to see if it was truly possible to combine carnival food and "milk's favorite cookie" into one delicious, all-American treat? If any of these ideas sound appealing to you, then you might be familiar with deep-fried Oreos.

Deep-fried Oreos are exactly what you would expect — Oreo cookies dipped in batter, fried until golden, and served piping hot. A popular snack of state fairs and carnivals, where anything from chicken and waffles to butter can be deep-fried in rejection of both natural and divine laws, deep-fried Oreos are a fascinating combination of textures and flavors. They have a crispy exterior reminiscent of pancake batter or a funnel cake, paired with a surprisingly soft, warm, almost molten interior of chocolate and cream. It's super sweet, like eating milk chocolate wrapped up in buttery pastry. It's also surprisingly new, considering how long fried foods and Oreos have both been around. In fact, deep-fried Oreos are very likely a 21st-century invention, with these fried snacks having first appeared around the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. Talk about a modern-day innovation!

But while the deep-fried Oreo is a common fixture of carnivals and food trucks, where exactly did these snacks come from? Who invented them? Why? To get to the bottom of this mystery, we must first visit the San Diego State Fair and meet a man by the name of Chicken Charlie. 

The name Charlie Boghosian most likely doesn't ring any bells for you. But, if you've ever had a deep-fried Oreo, whether made at home or bought at the state fair, you've been eating one of his many creations. As the story goes, Boghosian, a Syrian-American working at the San Diego State Fair, decided he needed something new to attract customers. Inspired by McDonald's apple pie and armed with a wide variety of snack foods, Boghosian experimented with different types of fried treats until he finally found what he was looking for: the deep-fried Oreo. Boghosian's story, if it is to be believed, takes place a few years after 1996 when he set up shop at the fair, which would place the creation of the fried Oreo sometime in the very early 2000s.

Oddly enough, there have been others who claim to be the "true" creators of the deep-fried Oreo, such as one Jim Crone in New Jersey. Crone is credited for inventing the deep-fried Oreo sometime in the 1990s, placing him just a bit before Boghosian (if Crone is indeed the real inventor, that is). Another supposed inventor is an Iowa resident and former radio disc jockey by the name of Terrence Neuzil. As Neuzil's story goes, he and his brother invented the deep-fried Oreo as part of a program on their radio show back in 1995. This, once again, supports the idea that the Oreos were invented (by whomever) somewhere around the mid-'90s to early 2000s.

The deep-fried Oreo may be more of a 21st-century invention than a "classic" state fair treat like candy apples or cotton candy, yet that hasn't stopped it from being a very popular snack. Although you can argue there are many different inventors of the deep-fried Oreo, it's clear that some restaurants, like Papa John's, are trying to put their own spin on this deep-fried delight from the early 2000s.

In 2022, Papa John's and Oreo teamed up to release "Oreo Cookie Papa Bites," which consist of Papa John's bread dough stuffed with Oreo cookie crumbles and baked until golden brown. While not exactly "fried," Papa John's is one of several restaurants that have taken the liberty of experimenting with Oreos, dough, or batter. Fast-food chain Sonic is known for occasionally having fried Oreos on its menu, usually paired by themselves or served with vanilla ice cream.

Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that Oreo has taken inspiration from the state fair — the place where all fried Oreos can be found — for Oreo cookie flavors. In 2018, Oreo released "Oreo State Fair Cookies," frozen Oreos dipped in a vanilla or chocolate coating, similar to how traditional deep-fried Oreos are prepared. While no single date nor inventor can be connected to their invention, it's clear deep-fried Oreos have become a not-so-old classic at state fairs, carnivals, supermarkets, and restaurants across the country.