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It should be exceedingly apparent by the title of my blog that I bake A LOT. My addiction to baking comes and goes in spurts. Sometimes I will bake up a storm for days using enough butter to make Paula Deen wince, sometimes I don’t bake for weeks at a time. The amount of baking that occurs in any given week depends on 4 very important factors…
1. my schedule;
2. my level of laziness;
3. how tight my pants fit and
4. inspiration.
This recipe falls under the inspiration category…I have seen homemade Oreos pop up in the blog world on numerous occasions, but when I had the idea to dye the centers pink for Valentine’s Day I made them that night.
I was delighted how these turned out…the pale pink center just screams Valentine’s Day and would also be perfect for spring…think pale orange, yellow, blue and green! If you are not into dying the centers, that’s fine too because as you can see they are just darling when kept white. I was honestly pretty shocked at the flavor of the chocolate wafers because they taste very similar to the real deal. Brian put it best when he said they taste just like Oreos, only better! You may not see much of me next week because I am thinking factor 3 (see above) may be a cause for minimal baking after consuming these addictive little cookies. Have a fabulous day and a great Valentine’s Day! Thanks so much for taking the time to check out My Baking Addiction!
Homemade Oreos
Ingredients:
For the Chocolate Wafers
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]
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
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used clear vanilla extract)
Optional- Gel dye
Directions:
1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, 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 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy. (Optional: Blend in a tiny bit of gel dye until you reach the desired color.)
6. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into 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. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.
Notes:
- I used Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder instead of Dutch Processed.
- I used Wilton Gel Dye to color the centers.
- Once I measured out a rounded teaspoon of dough, I rolled the dough into small balls before baking.
This recipe is slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen and can be found at http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/05/my-kingdom-for-a-glass-of-milk/
All images and text ©Follow Jamie on Instagram. We love to see what you're baking from MBA! Be sure to tag @jamiemba and use the hashtag #mbarecipes!
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I made these, but had to sub a few ingredients because of allergies. Not sure if that accounts for the texture or not. I think I’ll make a few changes to the icing in the middle, but the cookie part is good. Just needs to be done in really small drops on the cookie sheet. I used a small scoop, and the cookies are about 3-4″ in diameter. I think they need to be slightly underbaked, because they go too crispy while cooling…or I could have pulled them off of the sheet as soon as they came out of the oven. Not sure. I’ll play with it some, but I am VERY thankful for this recipe! It will save us a small fortune on Oreos since they are my weakness!!
Yummy :) I was just thinking this morning about the Oreo Cakester that I gobbled down and wondering if there were a mock recipe for those. Funny I ran upon your blog for the first time today and the topic is Oreos :) Your photo actually reminds me more of the Oreo Cakesters in looks and I love the pink and other color ideas you have. How clever and fun for presentation. What is the cookie like? Anyone know? Crispy, Chewy, Soft & Cake like?,etc I would love to recreate the Oreo Cakesters they are to me much more delicious than the regular Oreos but both are great.
Homemade Oreos are the BEST! Beautiful!
Are you kidding me-these look so scruptous! I am now a follower of you-love this site and so glad that I found you!!
Those pink and white ones are especially beautiful! I haven’t yet tried making my own Oreos and now they are near the top of my list!
Super cute! About how many cookies does this recipe make??
I received the link to this recipe from Money Saving Mom on FB and I love it! I posted on there a family secret (of sorts). And since you are a a bake-a-holic, maybe you would be so kind as to tell me why recipes call for Baking Soda AND Salt? My family omits the salt if it already calls for the soda, “because the soda is already salty” (my mom’s words) :o) I can really tell the difference too in other cookies, especially chocolate chip. Have you tried doing this before? I am going to try it with this recipe! Was thinking about making a batch with and without the salt and have a taste test among neighbors and friends! lol
Thanks again for such GREAT IDEAS!
OMGoodness, these look divine! The only thing better than an Oreo is a CHEWY Oreo! Are these cookies chewy or crispy? Thanks for sharing, can’t wait to come back and poke around :)
I’d say the homemade oreos are closer to regular oreos than cakesters, but the homemade oreos taste better than any packaged oreo. They’re chewier than regular oreos, but they taste a lot better. These were great! They taste wayyyy better than a real oreo. I made half the amount of frosting, and there was enough to frost 4/5 of the cookies. There was only 1 oreo left 40 minutes after they were done. (No one wanted to be the one to eat the last).
It says at the top of the recipie:
Homemade Oreos
makes 25-30 sandwich cookies
I made these and I came out with 24 cookies.
Drool….. These look so scrumptious! Bookmarked!
Can you make this subbing something else for the shortening??
I have never tried it, but I think subbing in butter would be perfectly fine.
-Jamie
I usually substitute coconut oil in any recipe that calls for shortening. That is what I’ll be doing when I try making these.
i just cant belive that they would taste like the real thing!!!