Another recipe every lady should know

Okay, the last post by this title was a good recipe, but this one, well, it's outstanding!  I can't take any credit for the recipe - I got it from here.  But I did want to share it with, well the whole world if possible. 

My love for Oreos is not something new.  When I was pregnant with Ira, I ate them all...the...time.  Like, a half of a package in one sitting type of addiction.  For Valentine's Day that year, Andy went to Sam's Club and bought me a box of Oreos with 10 sleeves of Oreo goodness.  It was gone in well, maybe a few days .  I think I shared a couple (cookies not sleeves) with Andy.  (sheepish.)  

And call me snobbish, but I can't really stand all the different knock-off Oreos out there.  They are NOTHING like the real thing.  Just totally a different cookie altogether.  So I was more than curious when I saw this recipe.  After all, I'm an Oreo snob.  Well, let me just say, I didn't believe it possible, but these Oreos are better than the real thing.  They are even realer than the real thing.  They are perhaps the best dessert cookie of all time.  But maybe that's just me...

Homemade Oreos

Cookies:
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. plus 2 T.  (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature unsalted butter
1 large egg

Filling:
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 c. vegetable shortening
2 c. sifted confectioners' sugar
2 t. vanilla extract (recipe suggests clear extract, I just used my brown imitation vanilla stuff)
*Optional - gel dye

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven.  Preheat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

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.  (Initially, I thought I had to have missed a liquid ingredient because it looked SO dry, but eventually, I promise, it will come together, be patient!)

 
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter (a cookie scoop works REALLY well for this - mine is a Tablespoon scoop, so sometimes I use it and divide them in half, sometimes I just make them Tablespoon size - (but whatever you do, the more precise and consistent your cookies are, the easier they will be to sandwich together) and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart.  With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. (Or you can just leave them rounded, then when you switch the pans in the oven at 4-5 minutes, just use a cup to flatten them out - it seemed to work better for me that way.)  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 2-3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.  (Optional: blend in a bit of gel dye until you reach your desired color.)

5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a half inch round tip (or quart storage bag with a 1/2 inch piece snipped off the corner) pipe blobs of cream into the center of one cookie (you can be fairly generous - I wasn't the first time and ended up with quite a bit of cream left.)  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.  (Or just eat as you go, and no one ever has to know you made them at all!) 

Yield: Makes about 21 sandwiched cookies when using the Tablespoon scoop, or 30-40 when using a teaspoon-sized scoop.

This would also work GREAT for pie crusts (just make the cookie dough) or making mini Oreos (like the ones on the right in the above picture (they were about 1/2 t. sized)