Cookie #72 - Oreos

Unlike my daughters, I'm not a fan of drinking milk.  I never have been.  There's just something about the way that it coats the inside of your mouth that doesn't appeal to me. 
However, give me a bag of Oreos and a tall glass of cold milk and I'm in heaven.
I love the way the cookie tastes after dipping into the cold moo-juice.  The cookie gets soggy and the cream gets cold and firm. 
I came across this recipe from cupcake project and I just had to try it out. 
After mixing up the dough, my official dough taste-tester, Corey, tried it out. 

"It's a bit bland." was his assessment.

I assured him that it was probably supposed to be a bit bland.  If you think about the actual cookie portion of oreo, they don't have very much flavor to them, other than the overwhelming chocolate taste.  The sweetness comes from the cream in the center.
I baked off the cookies and made the cream.

The cream was PERFECT.  It tasted just like the store-bought Oreo center, only better. 

After the cookies were cooled, I sandwiched them with the cream and took a big bite.

Oh my.

They were AWFUL. 

I mean, spit-them-out-and-rinse-your-mouth-awful.

I didn't understand.  How could this recipe get such rave reviews and be so bad?

Then, I consulted the recipe. 

I FORGOT THE SUGAR.

How could I do this?  Let me tell you how:  two curly-topped girls running underfoot, dinner in the oven, and a recipe that is just a *little* different than what I'm used to (you don't cream the sugar and butter first). 

They sure look yummy, though, don't they? 

I plan on trying this recipe again, tweaking the directions slightly.  I think they really have the potential to be an amazing cookie. 

Homemade Oreos
recipe from CupcakeProject.com

1 1/4 C all-purpose flour

1/2 C unsweetened cocoa
1 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 C sugar (DON'T FORGET THIS)
1/2 C plus 2 T butter, room temperature
1 large egg

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar.
Beat in the butter and the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. (I found that while the dough wasn't sticky enough to roll, I could press it flat with my hands like the recipe said and then use cookie cutters to cut perfect circles. If you just care about the taste, then there is no need for the cookie cutters. Also, remember this is a chance to get creative and use all kinds of cookie cutters.)
Bake for 9 minutes at 375 F. Set on a rack to cool.
 
Filling:
 
1/4 cup room-temperature, unsalted butter

1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste instead.)

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 2-3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

To make a cookie, pipe teaspoon-sized blobs of cream into the center of a cookie using a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch round tip. (If you don't have a pastry bag, you could easily just spread the filling with a knife or use a Ziplock with the corner cut off as a pastry bag. I had a pastry bag, but I only had a star tip. The tip doesn't matter much.)
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.


I'd like to add that this batch of cookies did not go to waste.  My official taste-tester, Corey, ate them in a bowl with milk like cereal.  He tells me they weren't so bad once mixed up with the milk and cream.  His complaints of a belly-ache 30 minutes later tell me otherwise.