So I'll be honest here. When I first tried these giant cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (sounds like an Oreo, right?), I was less than thrilled. The amount of sugar in them overwhelmed my taste buds and made my blood race. You could literally taste the powdered sugar in the creamy frosty filling. I was let down. But, let me tell you a few things about these cookies:
1. I really really really wanted to make whoopie pies. The reasons I didn't were because I didn't have the ingredients (marshmallow fluff) to make the filling, and I didn't want to have marshmallow fluff. I'm anti marshmallow/ gelatin. And the second reason is a sadder one… my lovely King Arthur Flour's Baker's Companion states in the nutritional information of the whoopie pie that each one contains 768 calories and 53 grams of fat. EACH ONE. Maybe I'm in denial about how bad (most) sweets are for you, but that seems quite whopping to me. I think it's a horrible thing to do to people, putting nutritional information in a baker's companion. Anyhow, that killed any ideas of making the whoopie pie cookies from the KAF book and then using a frosting recipe from somewhere else.
2. So I went with a Smitten Kitchen recipe that is titled "Homemade Oreos." I like Oreos, alright, but to tell you the truth I'm not a huge fan of packaged snacks. Sure, I love the Oreo milkshake that Gustavo makes for me (and the Oreo hot chocolate, too!), and I'll admit, I catch myself having an Oreo McFlurry now and then. Anyways, what I was really intrigued about the recipe was that it somewhere stated that the cookies turned out somewhat like whoopie pies. I was excited and because there was no nutritional information to scare me away, I invented to myself that they were at least slightly healthier than their whoopie pie counterparts.
3. I knew these cookies weren't going to be fluffy, mainly because you don't first cream the butter and the sugar, and also because they don't contain anything like buttermilk or any type of liquid. And also, because they're Oreos. They're not supposed to be fluffy. Duh. They turned out being nice round chocolate-y cookies, that, if you don't bake them too long, have a nice chew to them and let me tell you the best part: like many cookies of this texture, they get chewier and much much better with time.
4. So that brings me to my final point. Today I had one for breakfast. We're not 5, I'm allowed to. I allow myself to. And let me tell you, they were amazing today! The flavors blended together perfectly, the cookie has a thin brownie-like texture, the frosting has settled and is no longer powdered-sugar-in-your-face-loaded. Although they're not the whoopie pie I was hoping for, they sure satisfied a craving for a nice chewy sandwich cookie filled with a sweet creamy frosting. And they got Gustavo's approval (to quote, "One of the best desserts you've made"). That's a definite plus!
Giant (much-better-than) Oreos. Or chocolate sandwich cookies with sweet creamy filling. Or wannabe whoopie pies. Whatever.
From Deb's Smitten Kitchen blog
Makes about 24 medium-large cookies, to make 12 "Oreos" or however you want to call them.
NOTE- this made too much frosting, at least for me. If you would like, halve the recipe but follow the directions.
For the chocolate wafers:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa (I used natural)
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups sugar (may use between 1c. and 1 ½ c. depending on how sweet you like it. Use only 1c. if you will be eating them alone or for ice cream sandwiches. 1 ¼ cup was plenty sweet)
1 stick plus 2 TBSP unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
For the filling (see note above):
½ stick unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (may use more if desired)
Set two racks in the middle of the oven*. Preheat to 375°F.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. On low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue mixing until the dough comes together in a mass.
Using two spoons, place tablespoons of batter on parchment-lined baking sheets about 2-inches apart (they spread a lot!). Try to make them all about the same size, as you will need to find equal-sized partners for them later. With moistened hands, slightly flatten and shape the dough into rounds. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Cool on wire racks.
To make the cream filling, beat together butter and shortening in a mixing bowl. 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. If needed use a tiny amount of heavy cream to get a more manageable consistency. Beat as normal.
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. Or you can use a star tip and frost in a spiral pattern, not going completely to the edge of the cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press in the center to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.
*Note- I only have one rack in my oven as you all know. If you are in a similar situation, that's fine. You'll just have to bake one cookie sheet of cookies at a time. Place the rack in the middle, bake for 9 minutes (if they are tablespoon-sized batter drops. If smaller, bake less), there is no need to rotate the baking sheet.
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