Homemade Oreos

Now how can you replicate an Oreo? When I was first married we used to buy Oreos and the entire bag would be gone in two days. They have that delicious crunchy chocolate cookie on the outside and the super fattening and sugar filled frosting in the center. I am a twist and lick person myself, but I also love dunking them in an ice cold glass of milk and then you get to drink the milk when you are finished with the little pieces of chocolate cookie floating around. So yummm...

I don't eat Oreos like I used to, but I still love them. This homemade version is a really great recipe. I thought the mixing process was odd for a cookie. You put it together backwards by adding the wet ingredients last and there is no "creaming" of the butter and sugar. This makes for a sandy textured cookie, crisp on the outside, but slightly chewy in the center. The frosting is really good too. Very vanilla tasting. This cookie is definitely hard to resist. A definite winner for a Christmas cookie.

Homemade Oreos

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

For the chocolate wafers:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 to 1½ cups sugar*

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter

1 large egg

For the filling:

¼ cup (½ stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter

¼ cup vegetable shortening

2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Set rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375 degrees.

In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, (I used a mixer)thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar.

While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.

Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

To assemble the cookies, put the frosting in a large ziploc bag and cut off a 1/2 inch tip from the corner. Pipe about 1 teaspoon of filling onto the bottom side of one cookie. 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.

*These are really good small so be careful about sizing your balls of dough.