Homemade Oreos

This is the final bake-off recipe. I don't know how I feel about that. It's always nice to accomplish a project. Yet, it has been fun to see what other people are making. I wish, wish, wish I could have had some mega-baking weekend with guests galore. I enjoy cooking, but I love it more when others are involved. It's the sharing that makes it the most fun.

The final recipe is for Homemade Oreos, submitted by alwaysanadventure.

Alwaysanadventure loves to bake (which makes me like her instantly) and she has fantastic taste in music. If we ever spent time together in person, I'm pretty sure we'd be friends...though I'd likely spend the first couple hours mute because she's just that fantastic. I'd say that I want to be her when I grow up, but we're the same age...I don't know what that means for me. Maybe it means that since we have some commonalities that I'm cooler than I perceive? Yeah, yeah, I like where that's going. I bet if she met me in person she'd be mute too. I have that effect on people. [Insert swagger and head bob here.] Actually, I don't. I'm too silly to be intimidating. Okay, enough talk. We came here to bake! Well, you came here to read, but who cares about the details?

Here's her recipe for Homemade Oreos (originally from Smitten Kitchen):

Cookies:
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. Dutch cocoa
1 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar (can be decreased to 1/2 c., which I would recommend)
1/2 c. + 2 Tb. unsalted butter, room temp.
1 egg

Filling:
1/4 c. unsalted butter, room temp.
1/4 c. shortening
2 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

1. Stir together flour, cocoa, soda, powder, salt, and sugar.
2. Add butter and mix thoroughly, then add egg and mix until dough comes together.
3. Spoon small teaspoons of dough onto parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheet and flatten slightly with the heel of your hand or the bottom of a cup.
4. Bake at 375* for 7-9 minutes. Watch them because cookies this small can burn quickly.
5. For filling, blend butter and shortening, then add powdered sugar and mix until crumbly. Add vanilla and mix until smooth.
6. Transfer my filling to a large ziploc bag and cut the corner off as a makeshift piping bag. Pipe about a tablespoon of filling into the middle of a cookie and top with another cookie. Press together gently until filling reaches the edges.
7. Store between layers of parchment or wax paper in an airtight container.







alwaysandadventures' results:
For the record, I think my cookies are too thin. Actually, I know they're too thin. Whoops. I was overzealous with my flattening. It didn't alter the taste, but it made it slightly tricky when pressing the cookies together for the filling. Don't be like me. A slight flattening will do. I love how these cookies actually look like Oreos minus the imprinting. The filling actually tastes like Oreo filling! I've never made a homemade version of a brand item before and this was a really fun start.

Keep your eyes peeled in the upcoming days because I'll be announcing the bake-off winner. I need to come up with a prize. I'll scrounge around my house and see what discarded item I can find. Kidding! Maybe. Sorta. No, I'm kidding. Kidding-ish. Stop it.

So what's ahead for my blog? Well, thank you for asking. That was very polite. I suppose I'll be starting on a list of items I'm wanting to try. Monster cookies, a new sugar cookie recipe, crockpot turkey, soft pretzels, pumpkin roll. It's fall now (!!!!), so I'm wanting to venture into some warm foods like soups, chicken pot pie, perhaps a quiche. Basically, it'll be a free for all depending on what strikes me. I really do wish I could invite you all over when I cook. One day, friends, one day.