Taste & Create XVIV: Oreo Cookies!

For this month's Taste & Create, I was paired with Stef of Cupcake Project. I've had my eye on Strawberry Cupcakes with Champagne Glaze for quite some time now, and I was so excited to actually have BOTH fresh strawberries AND champagne in the house at the exact same time!

But then. Everyone in the house fell ill. There was more painting to be done in the house addition, and I had to sand and paint our doors by last week, and H-Bomb finished Kindergarten and a bunch of other stuff happened. And my lovely strawberries went moldy. I didn't make it to the store in time to complete the event.

With the clock ticking, I started from square one, perusing all Stef's recipes for something which was relatively easy and didn't require any ingredients I didn't have. Luckily I came back to her Oreo Cookies From Scratch! The recipe doesn't take any exotic ingredients, and it seemed simple enough. I finally had a day this week when I felt like I could get it all done too.

I laughed when I discovered that Stef found this recipe during a previous Taste & Create! How appropriate. The recipe has made the rounds, Stef recorded the details in her blog. Here's the recipe, one more time.

I decided on a double batch from the start. I did find it counter-intuitive to add the butter and eggs to the dry ingredients, so I reversed the order. I creamed the butter and sugar, added the eggs, then added the rest of the dry ingredients and mixed until the dough came together.

When it came time to make the filling, I discovered that I only had enough powdered sugar to make 1/2 batch of filling, not the double batch that I needed. :( I can't just "run to the store" since that would take a minimum of 2 1/2 hours and be about 70 miles! Thankfully my neighbor, who is strangely anti-sugar, happened to have just enough! While I'm not a big fan of shortening, I realize it is a necessity in this light and fluffy filling.

These cookies are decadent and delicious, the filling is creamy and just right. I filled about 10 cookies before I had Number One come try one, and now there is only one left on the plate. I think that says it all!

With a double batch I ended up with 148 cookies, enough to make 74 filled cookies.


Oreo Cookies
Chocolate Wafers:

Makes about 40 average sized Oreo cookies.

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  
• 1 large egg

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, and salt, set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg. Add flour mixture and continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten the dough. I rolled my dough into balls and used small heart-shaped cookie cutters after flattening the balls because I wanted a uniform size.
   
4. Bake for 9 minutes at 375 F. Set on a rack to cool.

The Filling:

• 1/4 cup room-temperature, unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  

1. Place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla.
   
2. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
3. To make a cookie, pipe teaspoon-sized blobs of cream into the center of the backside of a cookie using a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch round tip. (Stef says: If you don't have a pastry bag, you could easily just spread the filling with a knife or use a Ziploc with the corner cut off as a pastry bag. I had a pastry bag, but I only had a star tip. The tip doesn't matter much.) I used a knife because I didn't feel like digging out my cake decorating supplies; it worked fine!
   
4. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.
5. Serve with milk!