There is a "Little Lady" in the grocery store that never ceases to tempt me with her products. She just sits there with that smile on her face beckoning me to put her box of treats in my cart. She is worse than a girl scout.
One such treat is the Oatmeal Creme Pie. But then! I saw a recipe to make them at home, I had to try it. Thanks Shelly from cookiesandcups.com! She doesn't know I exist, but I love her blog and recipes.
I must say, these are delicious!
Here is what you will need:
For the cookie:
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp molasses
2 eggs
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
2 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp boiling water
For the filling:
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp unflavored gelatin (about 1 1/2 packets)
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup water (divided)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
8 oz vegetable shortening
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
I had some homemade Molasses... .oh yeah, that was getting added to the recipe!
Cream the molasses with the butter and sugars....
Add eggs and mix on medium until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt, flour, and baking powder. Add to the creamed mixture. Add the cinnamon and oats. Mix well.
Then comes a not-so-normal cookie step
In a small dish, add the baking soda to the boiling water, it will make a little fizz like a science experiment. I searched around looking for why to do this step. The only thing logical thing I found whas that you want these cookies to flatten a bit so you need to release the "gas" in the soda. I wonder what would happen if you just added the soda? Maybe I will try that sometime.
Meanwhile, stir the mixture into the rest of the batter. Mix well.
The batter will look something like this
Very important to remember: First, line your cookie sheet with parchment. Second, place them at least two inches apart, I did a rounded teaspoon.
These cookies will flatten drastically.
Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, mine took about 9 to 10 minutes.
The cookies will look slightly wet in the middle..just go by the color of the edge.
Let the cookies cool completely on the parchment lined baking sheet and carefully move to a wire rack.
The cookies will be soft and fragile, so be extra careful when moving them!They will be a bit fragile as well, so let them cool completely before removing to cooling rack.
I had to do some trial and error with the cookies. This is what they are supposed to look like. I cooked some too long, made some too big... sigh... all those scraps to eat. I managed to do it though.
Now let's talk about the filling.
In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water.
Stir it together and let it stand about 5 minutes.
In a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup hot water until well blended. Continuing to stir, raise the heat to high and bring to a full boil. Continue boiling for 30 seconds. Immediately remove from the heat. Stir in the gelatin mixture until it dissolves completely.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the vanilla.
With your mixer on medium speed, beat for 20 seconds. Gradually raise the speed to high and beat until the mixture is stiffened, white, very fluffy, and cooled to barely warm, about 5 minutes.
Mine looked like this.
Next....
Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add your powdered sugar.
Add your shortening and beat until completely smooth.
The consistency is like a giant marshmallow, so plop or pipe onto the cooled cookie immediately or it will be harder to work with the longer it sets.
I tried to pipe it on but it was too gooey, so I plopped instead. Then I put the top cookie on and did a swirling motion to distribute the filling around.
They may not look as uniform and pretty and the store bought kind, but let me tell you, they taste Amazing.
I don't think that "Little Lady" will be tempting me anymore.
It does take a litte more effort to make them homemade, but it is well worth it. I may tweak the filling a bit, maybe use marshmallow fluff somehow next time, but all in all, these are a keeper.
Baking from my heart to your kitchen,
