Homemade Oreos

Remember two weeks ago, when I mentioned my camera had broken? Well, it's still broken. My Mom has been letting me borrow hers but unfortunately, she's had to take it back this week through the weekend - they're headed off for an overnight stay and she wanted to be able to take pictures!

Unfortunately there won't be any pictures of my efforts for today's post - I'm hoping there will be some cookies remaining when I can borrow the camera again on Monday - if there are, I'll be sure to update this post with pictures!

And yes, I said cookies - oreo cookies, to be exact. You know you love them!! I never buy storebought cookies, I feel unbelievably guilty if I do because hey, I can make them, right? But Oreos, oh, Oreos. I love them so. Especially the double stuffed ones - oy vey!! I don't even remember the last time I had an Oreo...

But now! Now, we can make our own!! Jen from Beantown Baker posted about her attempt at them after seeing the recipe from Deb over at Smitten Kitchen. Deb, now she got the recipe from a book called Retro Desserts (PS want!) by a certain Wayne Brachman. Whew!

Our opinions? They're a really great substitute. My only complaint is that the cookie itself was a little too soft. And Oreo has a bit of a snap, you know? After having made these, I find out that Jen gave Oreos a try a second time, and had better luck with that cookie recipe combined with this filling recipe. So maybe I'll take her lead and give that a try next!

So, on to the recipe, shall we??

Homemade Oreos
Retro Desserts
Makes approximately 32 sandwich cookies

for the cookies:
1 1/3 cups Dutch process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

for the filling:
1/4 cup room temperature, unsalted butter
1/3 cup shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Cookies
Sift together the cocoa powder, flour and salt in a large bowl.

Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a spatula.

Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Place one piece between 2 lightly floured pieces of parchment paper and roll into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Repeat with other piece of dough. Refrigerate both rectangles, covered with parchment sheets, until firm; at least 1 hour or up to several days.

Using a 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut the dough into 64 circles, rerolling scraps once. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets and chill for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 325F.

Bake cookies until they are set and slightly darker around the edges, about 20 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.

Filling
Place butter and shortening in a bowl and at low speed beat in the sugar and vanilla. With mixer on high, beat another 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

Assembly
Place about a teaspoon's worth of filling into the center of one cookie. Place another equal sized cookie on top of the cream and press lightly so filling reaches edges of cookie. Continue until all cookies are used.

I call Gotta Little Space and Suitable For Consumption home; come say hi!