The grocery store cookie aisle is no longer the only place where you can find delicious Oreos, because this recipe for Homemade Oreos is one of those rare instances when a knockoff is a surprising improvement over the real thing. These “Faux-re-os” taste just like Oreos, with a creamy vanilla filling sandwiched between two intensely dark, chocolately cookies. The homemade version has a slightly softer texture and a more condensed, rich flavor. But just like store-bought Oreos, these cookies will transport you into a cookie eating twilight zone where you start off with eating one, and suddenly a whole row of them have disappeared.
Homemade Oreos
Makes 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on the size
(from Cookies for Kids’ Cancer – All the Good Cookies)
Ingredients
Cookies
1 stick (1/4 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Black Cocoa but the orginal recipe also recommends Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Cocoa)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Filling
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg, and mix well.
- Add the egg yolk, and mix well. Scrape down the sides as needed.
- Add the vanilla, and mix well.
- In a medium sized bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and baking powder until well mixed.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the egg-sugar mixture, and beat until well combined.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again.
- Using a level small (2-teaspoon size) cookie scoop, drop the dough about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
- With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough.
- Transfer to the oven, and bake until the edges begin to firm up, about 9 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets on the oven racks halfway through the baking time.
- Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets for 3 minutes.
- Transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool completely.
- Repeat with the remaining dough on cool cookie sheets.
Filling
- Place the butter and shortening in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk and beat until creamy.
- On low speed, add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, and beat until combined.
- Increase the spped of the mixer to high and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
Assembling the Cookies
- Spread a scant teaspoonful of filling onto the bottom of half of a cookie, and top with another cookie.
- Gently squeeze the cookies together so the filling spreads to the edge.
Note: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or frozen up for to 3 months.