Do Not Make These I Beg of You

Recently I asked some of my friends what brand name childhood treat I should try to make for them, and the vote came down to everyone's favorite sandwich cookie, Oreo. 

Do not try to make Oreos.

There is a reason that the Oreo cookie company is so successful. 

They have made their iconic recipe INCREDIBLY difficult to replicate. I have no idea what kind of black magic they're using over at the Oreo factory to so easily make millions of these little chocolate devils every day, but I can assure you it is nearly impossible to make these at home. It caused me a great deal of hair pulling, sweat, and tears, but in the end I (sort of maybe) prevailed, and I am proud to say that I have made homemade Oreos before.

I seriously do not recommend making these. It's going to save you a boat load of stress to just go to the supermarket and buy a pack of Oreos. Why don't you go do that now, you can have something to munch on as you laugh at my many near-failure experiences during the creation of these cookies.

Well.

INGREDIENTS;

For the cookies

1 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup melted chocolate chips

1 egg

1 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

For the part that everyone eats first (filling)

1/2 cup of softened butter

1 2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk

pinch of salt

FOR THE COOKIES

In a bowl, mix the butter and sugar together. Mix in the melted chocolate and the vanilla, then add the egg.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.

Simple enough, mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture until a dough forms. You'll probably have to use your hands, like I did, which is why I don't have any pictures of the dough before this next step (it can get pretty messy).

Once the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients are completely mixed, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge overnight.

This step here is me trying to make it easier for you at home. The original instructions told me to roll the dough into logs, then to wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for 2 hours. Then to unroll the logs and cut them like a loaf of bread to make the sandwich part of the cookie.

TOO BAD THE COOKIES WERE LIKE SAND BY THE TIME THEY WERE DONE REFRIGERATING AND JUST CRUMBLED WHEN I TRIED TO CUT THEM.

I became very frustrated with these dumb cookies. I spent, not exaggerating, half an hour repeatedly trying to cut these stupid little logs into cookies and it just was not happening. Eventually I got fed up and was just about to quit, when I got the idea to take a glass cup and simply press down on a ball of dough to flatten it.

What do you know, that seemed to have done the trick. Also, I didn't have to feel like a failure as I crumbled yet another log of cookie dough in my hands. I suggest this method.

So once your dough has been refrigerated overnight, flour your counter top and start forming it into little balls, then use a cup to flatten it. If the dough seems too hard, don't worry, it softens up really quickly just sitting on the counter top. In fact, you might want to keep some of it refrigerated while you're forming the rest into cookies.

Preheat your oven to 325 and cover a baking sheet with wax paper. Place your flattened cookies on it the baking sheet and bake them for 20 minutes.

 After baking;

While the cookies are cooling down, prepare everyone's favorite part of an Oreo, the filling.

Here are the ingredients again so that you don't have to scroll all the way back up to the top;

Filling

1/2 cup of softened butter

1 2/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk

pinch of salt

Mix the butter and powdered sugar together. Add the vanilla, milk, and salt, and mix until it's all smooth and creamy.

Once the cookies have cooled, spoon some of the filling onto a cookie and simply place another cookie on top and squish.

Yes, I turned my filling hot pink with the help of food coloring to make these a little less painful to look at.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got because my little brothers heard the word "Oreo" and immediately inhaled every cookie in site. 

So I suppose they were yummy. I still say go out and buy your Oreos, do not make them at home.