Two Spoonfuls: Oreos

Okay, so you all know by now that I'm packing up my house to move to Washington (in 3 weeks!), so I'm gonna cheat a little this week. I should be working on "The Straight Dough Method" according to our friend Alton Brown. I just couldn't find the time to not only read through the 54 page chapter, but to bake bread as well. Sorry. Instead, I'm going to summon up my previously learned Alton Brown skills and make homemade Oreos, hooray!!

I found this recipe on a blog I like to read called The Cupcake Project. The writer of The Cupcake Project got the recipe from Laurie of Heaven is Chocolate, Cheese, and Carbs. Laurie got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, who got the recipe from the book Retro Desserts by Wayne Brachman, and you're getting it from me! Now that's passing it on, eh?


Homemade Oreo Cookies

The Chocolate Wafers

• 1 1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Cup sugar
• 1/2 Cup plus 2 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
  
• 1 large egg

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar.
2. Beat in the butter and the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. 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 into circles, or use a cookie cutter to shape.
   
4. Bake for 9 minutes at 375 F. Set on a rack to cool.

I used a fluted cutter for my cookies, but when they were done the shape had all but disappeared. Plain old circles would be better for me next time.


The Filling

• 1/4 cup room-temperature, unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar (I tossed mine in the food processor instead of sifting
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla.

2. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

3. 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. (I just used a spoonful)
4. 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, being careful not to break the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.

These cookies were really yummy and super fun to make. I took a few of them with me on a trip to Seattle and our real estate agent gave them 2 thumbs up.

If you'd still like to know about Alton Brown's Straight Dough Method (that I didn't tell you about today), you can watch a great episode of Good Eats here:
Part 1
Part 2
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Fun Stuff


~ Interested in some more retro recipes? Check out this book, it's on my Wish List.

~The history of the Oreo Cookie

~ How to Properly Dunk an Oreo Cookie

~ Oreo Recipes from NabiscoWorld.com

~ A pattern to make your own felt Oreo

~ Want to tease the kids? How about some Oreo soap?

I'm pretty hungry now, let's see what Jenn's cooking....