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!

Cherry Walnut Chocolate Biscotti

Before we moved, I worked at a bakery back in Milwaukee.  Over the summer, there was a period of time that I was in charge of opening in the mornings.  I would stumble into the darkness and make my way to the lights.  The entire bakery illuminated in the glow of overhead lighting and my morning had begun.  The opening was down to a fine science, if I did everything in a certain order, the bakery was ready to open right on time for that first customer (and there was always one waiting on the stoop for me to unlock the doors).  Usually the coffee finished brewing and the ovens went off just in time for me to bring out a steaming basket of bread and a plate of fresh cinnamon rolls for the first rush of customers.

However, every once in awhile, I finished early.  These were the best days as I would be able to enjoy the early morning silence, the sort of magical time of day when the sun is just starting to peek out and the rest of the world is starting to come alive.  In this time, I would sometimes sit with the newspaper - I loved Wednesdays for the food feature - for about five minutes. 

And if I was really lucky, I would be opening on the day after biscotti baking.  The end pieces were always set aside and were fair game to us.  I would dunk the end of the biscotti into a steamy hot mug of foamy vanilla latte until it was dangerously close to crumbling into the bottom, before letting it melt in my mouth.  Pure bliss!

My love for biscotti grew on those early summer mornings, but I never actually made my own, until now.  I decided I wanted a decadent breakfast treat for Easter weekend and biscotti fit the bill.  Not only are these a tasty treat, they also stay fresh for a week or more, perfect for a holiday weekend when I don't want to spend the entire time in the kitchen. 

Cherry Walnut Chocolate Biscotti       
from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan (get this book today!)

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp instant espresso powder (You can leave this out but I think it adds a depth of flavor.)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts (I used 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup dried cherries.)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.

Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Jasmine wanted to be on the blog so she did her cute flop and roll in the background.

Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed about 2 minutes, mixture may be crumbly. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes; don't worry if the mixture looks curdled.  Reduce the speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until a dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the chopped nuts, chocolate and dried fruit.

 

This is the part where I try not to eat the entire bowl of dough - I have no fear of raw eggs.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead in any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.  Divide in half and shape each portion into a 12 inch log. Flatten each log with your hand so they are about 1 inch tall and 2 inches wide.  Place each log on the baking sheet and sprinkle with a little sugar.  Bake for about 25 minutes, until slightly firm.
 

These look like giant Tootsie Rolls,  mmmm Tootsie Rolls.

Be sure to leave plenty of space between the logs since they will expand quite a bit.

 This is what they look like after the first round of baking.

Remove the sheet from the oven and let it cool on a rack for 20 minutes. (Leave the oven on.)  Using a serrated knife, cut each log into slices between 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.  Leave the slices standing up and arrange on the baking sheet. Return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

Transfer biscotti to a rack to cool.

 

 

 
These make a great gift and travel well if you are heading to Grandma's house for Easter - Enjoy!

Macaroon Easter Egg Nests

 

 
Since Easter is so late in the month this year, I haven't seen many fun Easter recipes popping up just yet.  However, all of the stores are going full steam ahead with the Easter candy, which means I am on my second bag of those addictive Cadbury mini eggs.  I started with a bag of the classic and then yesterday, found a bag of dark chocolate.  Dark chocolate, I tell you!  This is my weakness so naturally I bought another bag.  (Side note:  Did you know these famous mini eggs have there own Facebook page?  Check it out!)

 

So once I got home, I started brainstorming ways I could incorporate these eggs into a fun Easter cookie and I decided I wanted to put them in little "nests."  Sometime last year I tackled macaroons (not to be confused with macarons, although people do interchange the spellings) and I remembered the little bits of toasted coconut slightly resembled the twigs in a nest.

 

If you have never had a mararoon, you really should try these.  I don't really like coconut and even I think they are tasty.  They are light and airy, slightly sweet, and a bit chewy.  And of course the trio of dark chocolate eggs in the center doesn't hurt!  I revisited the recipe I used last time from Ready For Dessert by David Lebovitz but made a couple of changes to get the nest effect.

 

Macaroon Easter Egg Nests

adapted from Ready For Dessert 

Makes about 20 nests (His recipe makes 30 but I made mine a bit bigger to hold the eggs)

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites
1¼ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
2½ cups unsweetened coconut (I used sweetened and thought it worked great)
¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
small chocolate eggs (I used Cadbury minis)

In a large skillet, mix together the egg whites, sugar, salt, honey, coconut and flour.

Heat over low-to-moderate heat on the stovetop, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom as you stir.

When the mixture just begins to scorch at the bottom, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl to cool to room temperature.

(At this point, the mixture can be chilled for up to one week, or frozen for up to two months.)

When ready to bake, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Form the dough into 2-inch mounds with your fingers evenly spaced on the baking sheet. Gently press a slight indentation in the center of each cookie.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, until deep golden brown. As soon as you remove from the oven, (carefully) add 2-3 chocolate eggs (depending on the size of your cookies) to each "nest."  Cool completely.

Notes:  Avoid packing the dough when transferring to the baking sheet - you want your cookies to stay light and airy.
Also, if you feel like making these during other times of the year, they taste amazing dipped in melted chocolate (as the original recipe suggests).

    

How sweet are these?  Wouldn't they be cute as and extra treat from the Easter Bunny?

 

Here, I made one for you - Enjoy!

Fall Leaves

Over Labor Day weekend my parents came up for a visit which meant planning several Wisconsin-y excursions. After living up here for almost three years I have learned that us Wisconsinites must make the most of our time outdoors. People up here are very into outdoor activities. The most hard core continue even in two feet of snow but I prefer to get my time in during the summer.

Although the snow and cold are enough to drive me insane, I must admit that autumn time in Wisconsin in BEAUTIFUL! As the leaves turn all shades of yellow, red, orange, it's time to collect the last of the summer crop.

It's the perfect time for apple pickin'! So, we decided to head over to the Elegant Farmer. It was our first time at the Elegant Farmer and it was an awesome day trip. The giant smiley face barn is packed with fresh cheeses (it was Blue Ribbon cheese day the day we went-YUM!), produce, and baked goods, most famously their "apple pie in a bag," which was even featured on Bobby Flay's Throwdown!

The giant somewhat freaky, yet cute, smiley face barn, and toot! toot! All aboard! We hope to go back sometime for a romantic train ride dinner cruise or beer tasting trip!

Of course we had to buy the apple pie and give it a try for ourselves. Now, I am a huuuuge fan of pie in general and this one did not disappoint. However, the point of the paper bag is to make the top crust extra crisp while keeping the bottom one soft and flaky, and I felt it was almost too crisp for my liking. That said, warmed up with a dallop of vanilla ice cream - oh, boy don't even get me started! Now, the apple picking never happened because their "fall harvest" didn't officially begin until the following weekend, but there is a point to telling the story of visiting the Elegant Farmer. While drooling over all the yummy baked goods, my mom pointed out these absolutely beautiful jumbo chocolate covered sugar cookies, shaped like fall leaves. I knew immediately that these had to go on the "must bake" list and so I did it over this past weekend! I think they turned out really well and I have a box of 'em in the mail to my parents and my brother and sis-in-law - shhhh, don't tell them, it's a surprise! Here are the pix.

Nakey Cookies

All dipped and beautiful!

Brushed with golden luster dust. So pretty!

I couldn't pick just one. I love how each one is unique.

I used a new sugar cookie recipe and three different fall leaf cookie cutters. Then came the messy part, melting the chocolate and dipping the cookies. My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you have a very thick "puddle" of chocolate to dip into, otherwise the cookies get smeared and don't come out as "smooth" looking. I waited until the next day to brush with the luster dust - that was the funnest (most fun??) part - I felt like a real arteest! Let me know if you would like any details on how to make these beauties. Making these really got me in the mood for making Greg's "all-time-favorite" cookies. You'll have to wait to find out what they are, and trust me, you want to know! Have a great night!