oatmeal cream pies

Is it clean eating if you know all the ingredients?

No? It's still unhealthy if it's filled with butter and sugar? Well, AREN'T YOU JUST A RAY OF SUNSHINE.

I'm using all my parents' wedding presents from 1980 today. It's a sea of brown Pfaltzgraff and orange Pyrex. 😊 You know I love all that stuff.

I feel like someone is going to be like "three kinds of oats? What the heck, amy?!" And I'm here for texture. You could make it work with one kind, but WHYYYYY? I grind half a cup of old fashioned oats [just stick it in your blender or bullet for a minute] into an oat flour, the minute oats add a small texture, and the old fashioned oats give that heavier texture. It's worth it. It's fine. [OKAAAAY, you can use all minute oats I guess. I wouldn't technically know because I've never made it that way, but I can't imagine it would make a terrible cookie.]

If you don't have piping bags, a gallon size freezer bag is the next best thing.

Oatmeal Cream Pies
1 1/4 cups butter [2 1/2 sticks]
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp molasses
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups minute oats
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup ground oats

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl combine softened butter and sugars. Add in the egg, vanilla, and molasses. Mix in the rest of the dry ingredients until everything is moistened. Using a cookie scoop measure out scoops of dough onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely then match up two cookies of approximately the same size and shape.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream
3/4 cup butter [1 1/2 sticks]
6 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste [or good vanilla extract]
1/4-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

In your stand mixer place the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Mix until it starts to come together and slowly add in the heavy whipping cream. Use enough whipping cream until the consistency forms peaks on the sides of the bowl. Let the mixer run on a medium-high speed for 5-10 minutes until the buttercream is light and fluffy [and DELICIOUS].

Yield: 21 cookie sammies


TIPS:
*this recipe uses a whole pound of butter. I just let the whole thing soften on my counter.
*salted butter. you know I love my salty sweets and I'm here for the salted butter. if you're using unsalted butter, increase the salt in the cookie to 1 tsp and add a pinch to the buttercream.
*bake your cookies until the tops are juuuuuuuuust matte in color. let them rest for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before you take them off to cool. this is when you want soft cookies because if you let them get crisp [and they're good crisp] the buttercream squishes out when you take a bite. it's not a first world problem, but it is avoidable.
*cookie scoops. I actually prefer a smaller scoop, just keep an eye on the baking time for your first batch, so you have a good idea of how long to set your timer for.

*I've also made giant versions of this recipe using 1/4 cup of dough for each cookie. they didn't stink either.
*cookie scoops = more uniform cookies, they'll still be irregular because you're not some heavy duty cookie extruder, but the scoop helps

*if you're Team Bar Cookies, just make 1 1/2 times the original cookie and press it into a parchment lined 9x13. bake for 20-25 min until the edges are browned, frost when it's cool.
*vanilla: use cheap for baking into things and the fancy kind for things that aren't baked [buttercream, ice cream, caramels, etc]. I know this means I'm saying buy two things of vanilla, but there's cheap vanilla and expensive vanilla. it's worth it if you're going to bake more than two times a year.

*speaking of fancy ingredients, I'm also converted to pricy spices and I can't give up my Vietnamese Cinnamon. I'm not an expert. I don't know if there's a better one around, but I've found one spice shop in Indianapolis and this one is my fave there.


If you make these guys, let me know!

xo