Oatmeal Cream Pies

Oatmeal Cream Pies were a childhood favorite of mine.  Having a child with severe nut allergies we just don't buy this kind of goodie off the shelf because of the possible contamination during manufacturing.  It makes me a little sad that our son won't get to enjoy those things, but then I remind myself that it's not a brain tumor, it's a cookie, and I'm fine.  

I saw this recipe over at The Pioneer Woman recently and she wrote that they taste exactly like the Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie.  A pretty bold statement for something so unique, but not something she claims often and I've made many of her recipes and have both her cookbooks...so let's just say I believed her.

She's right!  These oatmeal cream pies are probably as close as you will ever get to the real deal and better because they're homemade!!  I like that these don't have the slight gummy-cookie factor that the originals have and they aren't all smashed in the wrappers.  Though these are a bit time consuming from start to finish, they taste better after a day, needing some time to soften and become one cream pie instead of two crispy cookies with filling gooshing out the sides with each bite.  That means they are perfect for gatherings!  You can make them a day or two ahead of time.

Oatmeal Cream Pies
recipe by Stella B's Kitchen slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman, adapted from The Best of Amish Cooking by Phyllis Pellman Good  

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For the cookies:
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup Crisco
2 whole eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon, heaping
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp boiling water
1 tsp soda
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups quick cooking oats

For the filling:
5 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk (skim is fine)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar (not powdered)
1/2-3/4 cup marshmallow creme (just eyeball and scoop it out), optional

For the cookies:
Cream brown sugar, butter and shortening.  Add eggs and mix.  Add salt, cinnamon and baking powder and mix.  Mix boiling water with soda, then add to the bowl and mix.  Add flour and oats and mix well.

In a 350 degree preheated oven, scoop teaspoon sized balls as evenly as possible onto a lined baking sheet.  Bake 10 minutes, being careful not to over-bake.  Cool slightly on baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.  Cool completely before filling.

For the filling:
In a medium saucepan, whisk flour and milk over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is very thick.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.  Stir in vanilla.  Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the cooled flour/milk mixture to the fluffy butter and sugar.  Beat until it combines and resembles whipped cream.  *I find that if I really beat the sugar and butter, beating to combine the two mixtures doesn't take terribly long.  Beat in 1/2-3/4 cup marshmallow creme until smooth, if you like the filling a little sweeter. 

Scoop about a tsp of frosting on a cookie and sandwich with a similar sized cookie.  Allow to set up for a couple hours.  Store cookies lined up, standing on sides in airtight container to prevent the stacked weight from squishing out the filling of the bottom cookies.

Next time I might try making a buttercream frosting and simply add marshmallow creme to it, sort of like the frosting recipe in Chocolate Peppermint Cream Sandwich Cookies. Without the peppermint, of course.

*Teaspoon scoop works great for portioning cookies and frosting.  The frosting recipe makes enough to top each sandwich with 1 heaping teaspoon of frosting, with about 1/2 cup leftover.  Using the teaspoon scoop, recipe makes about 90-100 oatmeal cookies for about 45-50 sandwiches.  





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