Knock-Off Oatmeal Cream Pies

Well that was a fun time making you all try to guess that these guys were what I was making! Congrats again to Ian for being the winner of my little game. Perhaps I shall do more of those in the future! I have nothing substantial to give away, but I bake and Will cooks, so that should suffice. I'm not fancy enough to run promos for cooking ware, unless you guys want some of our old stuff as we slowly replace it over time. But something tells me that's not super enticing...

Anywho, these cookies are pretty badass. They're kind of a combo of Raleigh Tavern bakery oatmeal cookies (what they used to taste like when I was a kid...not how they taste now) and the Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies that they're modeled after. I will point out that I used steel cut oats instead of old-fashioned oats, because the recipe just said "oats." I think texturely, the steel cut oats made it a bit grainier, but I got more cookies. The only downside to using them is that a) they didn't look right and b) they would stick in your teeth after the fact. Neither of these are a bad thing, but just something I would experiment with in the future! This recipe was a little involved, but the end result was totally worth it. Now, I can't guarantee that your cookies will taste precisely like their Little Debbie counterparts, but they'll be similar and enticing enough that you'll eat them anyways!

Cooking Notes: I used steel cut oats and should've used old-fashioned. I also recommend if you want a slightly softer cooking, baking it for only 8-9 minutes. However, I would warn that it might make the cookie too crumbly to get off the cookie sheet, so just be careful. If you use old-fashioned oats, this may not even apply.

Knock-Off Oatmeal Cream Pies (adapted from Blooming on Bainbridge; serves 4-5 dozen cookies, 24 cream pies w/extra cookies)
Cookies
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Cream Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Begin by making cookie dough (use the cookies portion of the recipe for measurements). Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cups and level with a flat knife edge. Combine flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda in a bowl. Stir then mix in oats. Add to butter mix and blend well. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2" apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Leave on pan for 2 minutes to cool. Move cookies to wire rack to finish cooling.

To make cream filling, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Beat on low until mixed well. Then beat on high until light and fluffy. *Don't refrigerate the cream while cookies are baking-the mixture will harden and you will have to add more cream or milk and have to re-beat it before using it.* Once cookies are cool, place 1 tbsp of cream filling on a pair of cookies and squish together!

Recipe: Blooming on Bainbridge: Oatmeal Cream Pies