Homemade Oreo Cookies

This replaces the old homemade Oreo cookies recipe which is like these cookies ugly, rude, and offensive cousin in comparison. This pic and recipe is from the blog mybakingaddiction.com, which frankly, lives up to it's name. Made these tonight and Basil asked me to bake MORE. That rarely happens. Enjoy! BTW these are great, even without the filling and would be an awesome ice cream sandwich cookie. They taste like the chocolate wafers in the yellow box.

I made my own adjustments on the recipe so if you want the original, go to the blog site.

makes 25-30 sandwich cookies

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 cup granulated sugar
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 (I only had butter Crisco so the filling was more yellow)
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (If you want the center pure white, you'll need clear vanilla extract)
Optional- Gel dye (I made it pink... so cute!)

Method
1. Set rack 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. NOTE- mash the butter by hand into the mixture before adding egg and turning it on. Unless you have a covered mixer or food processor. I didn't and the dry ingredients flew everywhere. I am going to try to add it in slowly like traditional cookie recipes and see how it goes.

3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands (or use the back of a spoon which works great since my hands are rarely moist), 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.(I just used a large generous tablespoon on each with a spoon and spread it with my finger) 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.