Scratch Your Baking Itch: Homemade Oreos

Y'all, my sister is a fantastic little baker. She inspires me to bake, as much as Joy the Baker or Smitten Kitchen, seriously! But, I can't talk her into blogging ;) soooo, last night, when we were texting about her many Christmas parties and desserts she was making for them, she mentioned she had made homemade Oreos for her Sunday night party. Well, that caught my attention because we are a cookie loving family and I figured, I had taken a nap (almost in my 3rd trimester people! I need them!) and I had the energy to whip up something new. I decided to take on this tempting sandwich cookie.

1st batter attempt: you know, I left out a critical ingredient called SUGAR! Ha ha. I had tried the batter and though, ick, this tastes like dirt (& looked like it too). I then realized that at teh point when I was supposed to blend all of the dry ingredients tgoether, I had omitted teh sugar. Oh well, forget salvaging the batter. I started over again.

2nd attempt: voila! Just right.

I learned a few of tricks while making this, that might help you too:

1. This dough is very easy to roll out, that is what I recommend. This way, you can get clean edges to your cookies but you still get the lovely cracks and bubbles in your cookies
2. The filling won't look/taste/feel like the thicker, Oreo type cream until it has been sitting a day - but honestly, it tastes so amazing fresh the first day, you may not have any left 
3. You can flavor the filling any way you like! I did 1/2 original and in 1/2 I added small candy cane pieces to it for a seasonal touch. Both were delicious. 
4. Because I don't like to keep track of details, I didn't count many cookies I made/baked to ensure they came out even. In my estimation, if there wasn't a match, we could just eat the chocolate cookie! To ensure you do save enough for teh sandwiches (so they aren't eaten while you're making them), put 1/2 of your cookies topside down and the rest inside down as pairs,so you know how many cookies you will be filling. This way, you can space out your filling correctly too. 
5. I agree with the reco from the original recipe. to use an icing piping bag to fill the cookies. It makes it so easy and fast. 
6. You may never want an original Oreo again.

Here is the recipe from Smitten Kitchen!

Homemade Oreo Cookies 

Makes 25 - 30 cookies 

For the chocolate wafers: 

1 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/2 c cocoa powder

1 t baking soda

1/4 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 c sugar

1/2 c plus 2 T of butter, room temperature

For the filling: 

1/4 c butter, room temperature

1/4 c shortening

2 c powdered sugar

2 t vanilla 

For the cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Set 2 oven racks in the middle of the oven. You can bake 2 trays of cookies at teh same time. 
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, on low speed, thoroughly mix all dry ingredients the flour, cocoa, baking soda & powder, salt & sugar (see my note above :)).  
3. While on low speed, add teh butter & the egg. Continue to mix until the dough comes together. (Side note from me: my mixture stayed crumbly but when I patted it together between my hands, it stuck, if yours does this you know it is ready to pack into a ball and quickly roll out)
4. I rolled my dough out onto a floured/silicone surface at this point about 1/4" thick & used a small biscuit cutter to cut out my cookies. You can also use the original method of balling the cookie dough into about 1" diameter balls, put it on the cookie sheet and smush down with your hands. 
5. These cookies do not spread out much, so you can put them fairly close together (maybe 1/4" - 1/2" apart). 
6. Bake about 9 minutes. If you are baking 2 trays at a time, make sure to rotate the trays for even baking. 

For the filling (mmmm):

1. Place butter & shortening in a mixing bowl & at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar & vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat 2 - 3 minutes until the cream is light & fluffy
2. Next, after your cookies have completely cooled (if they aren't cool, your icing will melt and run off of the cookie), fill with the filling. 

Eat and Enjoy!

For an extra special treat, you could always drizzle them with white chocolate or fully enrobe in melted semi-sweet or dark chocolate. The original filled cookie though, is more than enough to satisfy any sweet tooth.