Homemade Oreos

Sorry for all those delays! The Hubs now works from home (thank you, Hub's employer! You are saving us lots of commuting $$$ a year...). But: our home computer is kinda therefore busy when he's working, which means I can't get online at home until 7pm or so. And lately, it tends to crap out when I log on. The Internet provider is promising no more problems so: for now, the blog is back!

I made these a few weeks ago, and they were a HIT - tastes just like the real thing. My cookies were a little poofier than necessary (I didn't use Dutch process cocoa, probably the culprit), but they were still great. Crunchy, slightly salty, deep-chocolate cookies with a creamy (lard-filled!) cream center. Mmmm. Thankfully I took these to a potluck, so we didn't have them hanging around the house. That could have been dangerous. For my already-expanding waistline.

Homemade Oreos

(from Smitten Kitchen)

For the chocolate wafers:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter

1 large egg

For the filling:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375 F.

In a food processor, or bowl of an electric 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 two 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 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center 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. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.