Makin' & Bakin' Mondays

Well I finally did it. I made Smitten Kitchen's Homemade Oreos and they were DELICIOUS! So delicious that I made my husband take them to work so we couldn't keep them at the house! Although I've linked to the original recipe before, I thought I'd include the recipe here since I did make a few minor changes to the recipe.



INGREDIENTS:

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
*** or if you are using regular unsweetend cocoa (I used Hershey's) you will need to add 1/8 tsp. of baking soda per 2 TBL. of cocoa, which for me came out to approx. 5/8 tsp. of baking soda - this is in additional to the baking soda called for by the recipe
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
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
*** I didn't use shortening, but substituted another 1/4 cup of butter + an additional 2 TBL. butter
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* milk - as needed (see additional note under directions)



DIRECTIONS:

Directions for the cookie wafers:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl using your electric mixer or a food processor.
3. While pulsing on low speed add the butter and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
4. Taking a small spoonful, roll the batter in your hands or with your fingertips to make a small ball, then place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart.
5. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough.
6. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

To make the cream:
1. Place butter 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.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: I ended up making more filling than it called for (since I'm a believe if there's no such thing as too much icing) and just added more powdered sugar and a dash of milk until desired consistency. You want it to be stiff enough to hold its shape, but not so soft that it "drips" off the cookie.

*all photos from the Smitten Kitchen website.

To assemble the cookies:
Place a small spoonful of cream in 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.

*** ADDITIONAL NOTE:
After the cookie wafers had cooled, a "taste test" showed they were perfectly crispy just like the cookie on an Oreo. The next day, the cookie wafers tasted even better, and had a slight chew to them. I don't know if it's where I live, but both my husband and I thought they tasted better the next day.

Here's a little food for thought, add some green food coloring to the cream to make them St. Patrick's Day appropriate!