Almost Oreo Cookies

For Christmas, I asked for Lion House's new cookbook, Lion House Bakery.

I already have the Lion House Classics book, but I wanted this book particularly because I used to work for Lion House Bakery. In case you're curious, I made cakes, pie crusts, cookie dough, and helped roll the rolls. I have a little bit of a negative feeling towards Lion House rolls because rolling them is the most boring thing I've ever done in my life. And I've done some boring things. Of course, if you do ever make them, you probably won't find it nearly so boring. There is a technique (demonstrated on DVD that comes with the book), but once you master it, you'll be "rolling" in compliments. Pardon the pun. Also, you probably won't find yourself making 4000 of them on a weekly basis either.

Anyway, shortly after Christmas I was flipping through the book to see what goodies I'd be soon making. It was fun to see recipes that I used to make at the bakery but never got the recipe for. That particular day, however, I was simply looking for a quick, easy recipe that only called for ingredients I had on hand. Which brought me to the recipe Almost Oreo Cookies. Very simple, and definitely a "pantry" recipe, meaning it calls for things you probably have in your pantry right this very second.

So what are you waiting for??

We'll start by mixing the cookie dough. Dump a devil's food cake mix, eggs, water, oil, and cocoa powder into your mixer. Mix it up.

It'll be a pretty dry mixture, and don't worry, won't resemble cake batter.

Roll into balls, oh, about this size. Place on a greased cookie sheet and flatten. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

The cookies on the right I actually forgot to flatten, so I did it as soon as them came out. They look a little bit different but it wasn't a big deal. Now let's get started on our filling.

Here's the trick I use for measuring shortening: place a piece of plastic wrap into your measuring cup first then measure as usual. Pull out the plastic wrap and dump the shortening into your bowl. (This also works great for peanut butter.) It is really tricky getting a good photo of shortening, by the way. Anyway, put your shortening in the bowl and beat until fluffy.

Add 1 cup of the powdered sugar, vanilla, and water, and beat again. Add the rest of the powdered sugar gradually, scraping the sides occasionally.

Mmm, nice fluffy filling. Spoon a little bit on the back of one cookie, and sandwich with a second cookie. Repeat until you've made all your cookies.

Enjoy! These cookies are definitely kid-fare, in my opinion. I didn't love the shortening flavor, but they still tasted pretty good. Kids would totally love squashing these little sandwiches together to make "Oreos."

Here's the recipe, from the Lion House Bakery.

Almost Oreo Cookies

1 box devils food cake mix

2 eggs

3 T. water

3 T. veg oil

1/2 c. cocoa powder

Filling:

1 c. shortening

1 pound plus 1 c. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

1/4 c. water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine cake mix, eggs, water, oil, and cocoa powder until well mixed. Form into balls and place on greased cookie sheets. Flatten each ball and bake 6 to 8 minutes. Remove cookies from cookie sheet and place on paper towels. Let cool for 20-25 min.

Prepare filling: Beat shortening until fluffy. Add 1 c. powdered sugar, vanilla, and water and beat until fluffy. Add half the remaining powdered sugar and beat well. Add remaining powdered sugar and beat well. Place desired amount on one cookie. Place second cookie on top of filling. Gently squeeze together. Repeat until all cookies have been made into sandwiches. Makes 18 cookies.

Click on the image to see full-sized. Save it to your computer (right click, "Save Picture As" on a PC). The recipe card is then ready to be printed out as a 4x6 recipe card.