COLUMN: Make America’s favorite cookie at home
According to Nabisco, Oreos are America’s favorite cookie. I agree with that, but only if they’re homemade Oreos. Think about it: Homemade Oreos have everything Oreo fanatics love, like the chocolate and vanilla combo and a cream center, but they are bigger, softer and can have a lot more filling. How could anybody not love these more?
When you make your own Oreo sandwich cookies, the sky is the limit. You can make them small, crunchy and less sweet like real Oreos or you can make them gigantic, triple-stuffed and super soft. It’s up to you. I like to make my own version of mint Oreos by adding ¼ teaspoon mint extract and about 4 drops of green food coloring to the filling once I’ve mixed it.
You can try any flavor, color or add-in you like to make your own customized Oreo cookies. Next time I’m going to try adding a scoop of peanut butter to the filling to make my very own Peanut Butter Oreos that I’m pretty sure will be over the top. Go crazy, and don’t forget to dunk them in a nice tall glass of milk.
HOMEMADE OREO SANDWICH COOKIES
For the Cookies:
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 to 1 ½ cups sugar (see notes)
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) room temperature butter
1 large egg
For the Filling:
¼ cup (1/2 stick) room temperature butter
¼ cup vegetable shortening
2 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon mint extract (optional)
green food coloring (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. If you want the cookies to turn out less sweet and more like a real Oreo cookie, use only 1 cup of sugar. I like them this way because they compliment the ultra-sweet filling. If you want them sweeter you can use 1 ½ cups of sugar.
Add the butter and beat until mixed.
Add the egg and beat until the dough comes together in a ball. (This may take a few minutes of beating.)
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly mist them with spray grease.
Scoop teaspoon-sized balls of batter and place them about two inches apart on the pans. This makes large sandwich cookies. If you want yours to be closer to the size of real Oreos make your dough balls half the size of these and bake for 7 minutes. Use slightly moistened fingertips to gently press the dough balls down.
Bake for 9 minutes. Remove the cookies from the pan to a baking sheet and allow them to cool completely.
To make the cream filling, place the butter and shortening in a mixing bowl and beat until combined. On low speed, gradually add the sugar and beat until combined. Beat for 3-4 minutes on high speed, until the filling becomes light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract, mint extract and food coloring if using, and stir with a rubber spatula until just incorporated.
To assemble the cookies, either put the filling in a pastry bag and pipe out a teaspoon or two onto half of the cookies or use a butter knife to spread the frosting. Top with the remaining cookie halves.
Serve with a large glass of cold milk.
Makes 25-30 sandwich cookies.
Cookies will keep up to 1 week in an airtight container.
– Jennelle Clark is a senior psychology major who writes the online food blog
foodislikeart.blogspot.com. She loves making, eating and sharing her food. Send comments to jenn.wilson@aggiemail.usu.edu.