Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Homemade Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies!


Hope everyone is having a great day!  The sun is shining here and I am hoping to make it over to the Maplewood Farmer's Market tonight to get a few mid-week goodies.  Then, Greg and I have plans to go to the movies tonight.  We haven't been to the movies in months but one of our friends gave us an awesome Groupon for two tickets and a bucket of popcorn.  I can't even remember the last time I had movie theater popcorn - it is the best, mmmm liquid butter!

Anyway, today I bring you a delicious recipe that is sure to stir up childhood memories.  I was an Oatmeal Cream Pie addict while my brother could have lived off of Zebra Cakes.  My mom rarely bought us Little Debbies but I played softball for about 5 years simply for the treats and little blue juice jugs at the end of the game (anyone else remember those?).  I was visiting What the Dog Ate blog a couple days ago when I saw the recipe for these.  After a quick mental scan of my pantry, I knew I already had all the ingredients I would need to make them, yes!

What's not to like about sweet, sugary buttercream sandwiched between two melt-in-your-mouth oat packed cookies?  And they must be healthy because of the oats, right?  They would be perfect wrapped in some wax paper and packed up for a picnic or piled high for an after school snack.  Try these today!
 
Homemade Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies
from What the Dog Ate

Ingredients

Cookies
1 1/4 cups butter, unsalted, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups quick oats (the only change I made here was to pulse the oats several times in a food processor so that there were some bigger oats pieces and some finely ground, but I'm sure it would be great either way)

Filling (I am leaving the measurements as listed but I only used about half the recipe so you could easily halve the ingredients and have plenty for filling.  A little bit goes a long way!)
1/2 cup butter, unsalted, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375.  Line a baking sheet with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the 1 1/4 cup butter with the granulated and brown sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. 

With the mixer on low, add in the flour mixture and then the oats.
 I ground up my oats to have some bigger and some smaller.

Use a small cookie scoop to make uniform sized balls for the cookie sheet.  Do not worry about pressing flat as they will spread when they bake.  Refrigerate the scooped cookie dough for about 10 minutes. 

Bake at 375 for 11 minutes.  Remove from oven and leave on cookie sheet for 2 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 48 individual cookies.

Make the filling by beating the 1/2 cup butter with powdered sugar and up to 2 tablespoons of milk.  Transfer to a zip lock type baggie with a corner snipped off.

Assemble the cookies by piping about a teaspoon of filling onto the bottom side of one cookie.  I used about a quarter sized dollop and it was the perfect amount of sweetness.  Top with another cookie.



Enjoy with a tall, cold glass of milk!

Thanks for stopping by!  What is your favorite childhood treat?  In addition to the Oatmeal Cream Pies, I also loved eating the Nutty Bars one layer at a time!

18 comments:

  1. Loved Kit Kat's one layer at a time! Can't wait to try this recipe...I was also an Oatmeal Cream Pie girl. One treat I would love to have a good recipe for is Monster Cookies (you know the peanut butter with all kinds of stuff in them?). Every time I've tried to make them, they turn out hard. Don't know what I do wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lucy! These look soooo much better than the real thing! Nicely done! I LOVE oatmeal! : )

    ReplyDelete
  3. dang girl, I canNOT have these in my house! there's a reason i don't bake much :)

    i loved those christmas tree and valentine heart cakes by little debbie. oh man, i could down a few in one sitting, that's for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  4. These were one of my favorite childhood treats! My mom didn't buy Little Debbie snacks very often either but we alway got these for road trips. I must try this recipe, I haven't had a Little Debbie oatmeal cream pie in years, thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. There is seriously nothing better than a baked good made with oatmeal...and these little treats that you have made are fabulous looking Lara!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Me again! I'm so sorry!!! - I meant to write "Lucy" NOT "Lara"...not sure where that came from. I'm so sorry!!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love these as a kid and somehow I think yours are going to be so much better!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Those look way better than the Little Debbie ones and I am sure taste a million times better! Oatmeal cookies are way better than choc chip ones any day of the week!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Little Debbies were always SUCH a treat when I was a kid. LOVED them. These are on the to-make list for sure!

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Naomi, I've never tried to make Monster cookies but now you have me thinking about them - I will go on the lookout for the perfect soft and chewy one:)

    @Anne, Thank you! I am normally a chocoholic but these were a great change!

    @Stacy, yes they are dangerous to have around. That's why I sampled one the day I baked, saved one for a treat the next day and sent the rest to work with Greg!!

    @Anne, as it turns out, mom did know best;) But it's great now to have a homemade version!

    @Avril, I know! I've heard of adding ground oats to chocolate chip cookies to add a little somethin somethin, I want to try it sometime!

    @Maris, thank you! Greg said they went over well at work. He has learned to grab one for himself before he puts them out otherwise they disappear before he can get one:)

    @Vanessa,thank you!! They are a nice change from choco chip!

    @Denise, awesome! Let me know if you try them!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mmmm these look good- your photographs are beautiful! I always ate the chocolate cupcakes with the swirl on top and the star crunches!

    ReplyDelete
  12. These are so great!! I love a good oatmeal cookie sandwich. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love littel debbie oatmeal cream pies!! how cool for you to recreate these..on my weekend baking list!! thanks for the award, I commented on the original post!! HUGS!!

    sweetlife

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yum, these look awesome! I can't wait to try them!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Lucy, it was great meeting you at the Bake Sale last week.

    These look delicious! I love sandwich cookies and use to eat Little Debbie's as a kid. I will definitely have to try these.

    Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. loooove these!! i've had a similar recipe bookmarked forever, must try soon :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lucy!! I just gasped when I saw these. What a great way to get to eat a favorite childhood treat once again. YUM! I printed the recipe already and it's now in my summer baking recipe file. Fun stuff! Thanks.

    ReplyDelete