First of all, I'm sorry this is coming a day late. After spending the past 3 days at my parent's with my children, my husband, and my 60lb chocolate lab, I was exhausted. And not just a little big tired...a lot. So I sat on my butt last night and watched the first ever all female team win The Amazing Race, then I went to bed.
Second...I left all the pictures for these on my mother's computer in Hodgdon...dumb. (But if you're really interested in seeing pictures of them go to http://imsaraimacookieaddict.blogspot.com/2010/08/deputy-oatmeal-sandwiches.html.)
(Oh and...the pictures there show kind of a rounded cookie instead of a flat one...I have no idea why they did that cause now my cookies always come out flat the way they're supposed to. There's no difference in the way they taste, but those pictures were taken in August and it could have been the weather and the humidity and the fact that I didn't have time to refrigerate them the way I would have liked to. But the color, consistency, and all that jazz will be exactly the same.)
These were at one point in time called "Deputy Oatmeal Sandwiches"...now they're just called "Everyone begs for these-wiches."
Trust me on this one, if you make these, everyone will only have one questions "When are you going to make these again?" Even my brother and my father beg for these when I come home. (Mostly my father...my brother doesn't really notice, he just smells cookies, grunts, and eats.)
I stumbled across this little gem when I was searching for "filled sandwich cookies" that weren't whoopie pies. (Not that I don't love a good whoopie pie, but I love cookies more.)
Some woman had shared a recipe for Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie Clones, and after reading through the recipe I figured, hey, why not. Now, I don't know about any of you out there but one thing I hate is when people publish "knock off" recipes and they end up tasting nothing like what they're meant to be knocking off. But this recipe delivered.
Not only were the cookies soft and kind of chewy, but the filling had was sweet and had that same fluffy consistency that a real Oatmeal Cream Pie has. In short, they were delicious. (And if you're looking for a way to validate these...oatmeal is full of fiber and therefore really good for you, and this recipe does not skimp on oatmeal.)
A word of caution though...this recipe makes a TON of cookies. And it doesn't matter what size cookie scoop you use. I had been using my normal cookie scoop, which makes kind of a larger than you want cookie, but it still gives you a ton of cookies. (Trust me, no one complains about these being too big...they will complain if they're too small though.) In an effort to try and make these a little less gluttonous, I started using my smaller cookie scoop and it yields a perfectly porportioned cookie...so perfect you might have to eat two. However, you will feel like you have died and gone to cookie purgatory, a varitable cookie Sisyphus with a never ending bowl of dough.
But the best cookies are the ones that can be refrigerated and used whenever you get the hankerin' for some cookies. Both the dough and the filling for these can stay in the fridge for quite a while, which is handy when you suddenly just want...no HAVE...to have cookies.
Watch Your Back Little Debbie Cream Pies
Cookie:
1 1/2 Cups Shortening
2 2/3 Cups Packed Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
2 Tsp Vanilla
2 1/4 Cups Flour
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Salt
4 Cups Old Fashioned Oats (I've used quick oats too...they just make the cookies a little less chewy and have a finer texture.)
Decide whether or not you want to refrigerate this or bake them right away. Me, I typically refrigerate these for a few hours just to make the dough more workable.
But regardless, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare your cookie sheets with parchment, silpats, or silicone baking sheets. If you're refrigerating, move this step to the bottom.
In seperate bowl combine all the dry ingredients except for the oatmeal. Whisk together to aerate and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer cream together the shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well between each egg. Once the eggs are all added, add the vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients about 1/2 Cup at a time and beat until the dry just incorporates into the wet. Once all of your dry ingredients from the bowl are added, add the oatmeal about a cup at a time and mix together until blended.
The mixture won't be that stiff, but there will be a lot of it.
Either use right away or cover tightly and put into the fridge for a while.
Keeping about 2 inches of space between each cookie bake anywhere from 8 to 12 minutes depending on the size of your scoop. (When using my little scoop my cookies are perfect after 8 minutes, when using my big scoop they're perfect after 11 minutes.)
While your cookies are baking, it's time to make some filling.
Filling:
3/4 Cup Shortening
3 Cups Confectioner's Sugar *
1 Jar (7 ounces) Marshmallow Cream (Jet Puff is perfect.)
1 to 3 Tbs Milk (Whipping cream, half-n-half, and heavy cream all work great too!)
Put it all into the bowl of your stand mixer and beat the snot out of it until it's light and fluffy. Scoop it into the corner of a large zippered top storage bag, snip the corner off and you're ready to fill!
* In regards to the amount of confectioner's sugar - 3 cups of confectioner's sugar is A LOT. My suggestion is, add a little at a time, tasting as you go and when you get to the right consistency and sweetness you want stop adding sugar. I find that about 2 cups is perfect. You don't want the filling to over power the cookie.
Good luck never making these again.
Second...I left all the pictures for these on my mother's computer in Hodgdon...dumb. (But if you're really interested in seeing pictures of them go to http://imsaraimacookieaddict.blogspot.com/2010/08/deputy-oatmeal-sandwiches.html.)
(Oh and...the pictures there show kind of a rounded cookie instead of a flat one...I have no idea why they did that cause now my cookies always come out flat the way they're supposed to. There's no difference in the way they taste, but those pictures were taken in August and it could have been the weather and the humidity and the fact that I didn't have time to refrigerate them the way I would have liked to. But the color, consistency, and all that jazz will be exactly the same.)
These were at one point in time called "Deputy Oatmeal Sandwiches"...now they're just called "Everyone begs for these-wiches."
Trust me on this one, if you make these, everyone will only have one questions "When are you going to make these again?" Even my brother and my father beg for these when I come home. (Mostly my father...my brother doesn't really notice, he just smells cookies, grunts, and eats.)
I stumbled across this little gem when I was searching for "filled sandwich cookies" that weren't whoopie pies. (Not that I don't love a good whoopie pie, but I love cookies more.)
Some woman had shared a recipe for Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie Clones, and after reading through the recipe I figured, hey, why not. Now, I don't know about any of you out there but one thing I hate is when people publish "knock off" recipes and they end up tasting nothing like what they're meant to be knocking off. But this recipe delivered.
Not only were the cookies soft and kind of chewy, but the filling had was sweet and had that same fluffy consistency that a real Oatmeal Cream Pie has. In short, they were delicious. (And if you're looking for a way to validate these...oatmeal is full of fiber and therefore really good for you, and this recipe does not skimp on oatmeal.)
A word of caution though...this recipe makes a TON of cookies. And it doesn't matter what size cookie scoop you use. I had been using my normal cookie scoop, which makes kind of a larger than you want cookie, but it still gives you a ton of cookies. (Trust me, no one complains about these being too big...they will complain if they're too small though.) In an effort to try and make these a little less gluttonous, I started using my smaller cookie scoop and it yields a perfectly porportioned cookie...so perfect you might have to eat two. However, you will feel like you have died and gone to cookie purgatory, a varitable cookie Sisyphus with a never ending bowl of dough.
But the best cookies are the ones that can be refrigerated and used whenever you get the hankerin' for some cookies. Both the dough and the filling for these can stay in the fridge for quite a while, which is handy when you suddenly just want...no HAVE...to have cookies.
Watch Your Back Little Debbie Cream Pies
Cookie:
1 1/2 Cups Shortening
2 2/3 Cups Packed Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
2 Tsp Vanilla
2 1/4 Cups Flour
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Salt
4 Cups Old Fashioned Oats (I've used quick oats too...they just make the cookies a little less chewy and have a finer texture.)
Decide whether or not you want to refrigerate this or bake them right away. Me, I typically refrigerate these for a few hours just to make the dough more workable.
But regardless, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare your cookie sheets with parchment, silpats, or silicone baking sheets. If you're refrigerating, move this step to the bottom.
In seperate bowl combine all the dry ingredients except for the oatmeal. Whisk together to aerate and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer cream together the shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well between each egg. Once the eggs are all added, add the vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients about 1/2 Cup at a time and beat until the dry just incorporates into the wet. Once all of your dry ingredients from the bowl are added, add the oatmeal about a cup at a time and mix together until blended.
The mixture won't be that stiff, but there will be a lot of it.
Either use right away or cover tightly and put into the fridge for a while.
Keeping about 2 inches of space between each cookie bake anywhere from 8 to 12 minutes depending on the size of your scoop. (When using my little scoop my cookies are perfect after 8 minutes, when using my big scoop they're perfect after 11 minutes.)
While your cookies are baking, it's time to make some filling.
Filling:
3/4 Cup Shortening
3 Cups Confectioner's Sugar *
1 Jar (7 ounces) Marshmallow Cream (Jet Puff is perfect.)
1 to 3 Tbs Milk (Whipping cream, half-n-half, and heavy cream all work great too!)
Put it all into the bowl of your stand mixer and beat the snot out of it until it's light and fluffy. Scoop it into the corner of a large zippered top storage bag, snip the corner off and you're ready to fill!
* In regards to the amount of confectioner's sugar - 3 cups of confectioner's sugar is A LOT. My suggestion is, add a little at a time, tasting as you go and when you get to the right consistency and sweetness you want stop adding sugar. I find that about 2 cups is perfect. You don't want the filling to over power the cookie.
Good luck never making these again.