Homemade Oatmeal Creme Pies

Oatmeal creme pies will always be one of my favorite junk foods. My family did not keep sweets and soda on hand, but they were a really amazing treat every once in a while.

But the ingredients label is scary*. And I have to admit Debbie's version is a little too syrupy-sweet for me. So here's my version. :)

So go make your own oatmeal creme pies!



<sub>*Ingredients

Corn Syrup, Enriched Bleached Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1]Riboflavin [Vitamin B2]Folic Acid)Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil with TBHQ to Preserve Flavor, Dextrose, Water, Oats, Sugar, Molasses, Raisins, contains 2% or less of each of the Following: Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Ammonium Bicarbonate)Whey [Milk]Emulsifiers (Soy Lecithin, Mono and Diglycerides, Sorbitan Monostearate, Polysorbate 60)Salt, Cornstarch, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Eggs, Interesterfied Palm and Palm Kernel Oils, Soybean Oil, Sorbic Acid (To Retain Freshness)Cocoa, Colors (Caramel Color, Titanium Dioxide, Red 40, Beta Carotene, Turmeric, Annatto Extract, Yellow 5)Egg Whites, Citric Acid, Pectin, Sodium Citrate, Coconut (Sulfite Treated to Preserve Color)Evaporated Apples (Sulfite Treated to Preserve Color)Nonfat Dry Milk, Carrageenan, Spices, Rice Flour.</sub>

Step 1: Ingredients + hardware!

For the cookies:

• 1 cup margarine/butter, unsalted at room temp.
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups quick oats (you can use steel cut - I'm using those - or regular)

For the cream filling:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter/margarine, at room temperature - new and important update! the best ratio I've found is 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening.
• 1 cup confectioners/powdered sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch salt
• 1 1/4 cups marshmallow fluff (slightly less than the amount in a 7 oz. bottle)

Hardware:

• an oven heated to 350 F
• cookie sheets
• mixing bowls
• hand mixer/stand mixer
• spatula
• cooling racks

Comments

[hahahippo=)]

About how many cookies does this make?

[jessyratfink]

I came out with 14 at the end, but it you made them smaller you could go crazy. :D

[Senior Waffleman]

My all time favorite snack, wow, these look great! :D

[jessyratfink]

Thank you! They are my boyfriend's new favorite cookie. We made the creme last week without any cookies to go with it because it's so good. I put some cinnamon and creme in rice pudding and it was amazing... like a cinnamon roll on steroids.

[Senior Waffleman]

Nice

[chornberg]

These were pretty good. I made them as directed but my cookies didn't spread out too much - so they were small and thick. I think next time I make them I will experiment with some more spices - maybe cloves. All in all great and I am excited to bring them to holidays.

[jessyratfink]

Oh, cloves sound great. I might try that next time. :)

[abbie81]

Those look delicious, great recipe!

[gdhenson]

ummm. yum.

[kfhaggerty]

I saw the picture of these you posted, and thought immediately of "Little Debbies". I had to make them. They came out great, and they are already on the "redo" list as everyone here demands another batch. I had a small problem with the cream; it was melting in the hot weather. So, I added 1/4 cup of shortening to help firm it up a little bit. Great recipe. Thanks.

[stretch mark]

Always wanted to knock these off!!!! A favorite of mine. Thank you.

[philswindler]

Just curious, why do you use unsalted butter then add salt?

[jessyratfink]

What she said! If you use salted butter, you can end up having something atrociously salty. This is especially true of the creme part. :)

[angelabchua]

For me, when I cook, I like to control the amount of salt I am using to bring out the flavor of the sweets. With salted butter, you can't control the amount; it may be too little or too much. I have always heard that it's a good rule of thumb for baking to use unsalted butter and then add it in yourself. :)

[jjmcgaffey]

The oats look very odd - did you grind steel-cut oats to a powder in a blender, perhaps? They look a lot finer than my steel-cut oats. And grainier than quick oats.

Yes, I want an alternative to marshmallow fluff too...and I've seen one, somewhere. King Arthur Flour, in a Whoopie Pie recipe? I'll try to find it.

These are my downfall - I can ignore most of Little Debbie's offerings, but oatmeal pies are utterly addictive. Slightly less sweet sounds good, and homemade sounds excellent...I WILL be making these!

[jessyratfink]

Nope, that's just the way the oats came. :) They were pretty small, I have to admit, but they gave the cookies great texture. I think I like it more than regular quick oats.

[HandyMan1959]

I do the same when cooking, this way i control how much salt. same with spices, instead of Garlic Salt I use garlic powder instead. My question is do you use light or dark molasses?

[jessyratfink]

You can use either - but I used dark. :)

[Lindie]

Yummmmm!

[jbritton5]

Anyone have a suggestion for an alternative to marshmallow fluff? You're just putting "scary" ingredients right back in this when using that junk. There's an eclectic cafe in South St. Louis that serves homemade "Hostess Cup Cakes" complete with the chocolate frosting and squiggly white design. They're amazing!

[HandyMan1959]

marshmallow is mainly just sugar, corn syrup and gelatin. you heat the sugar and corn syrup to softball stage then whip it into the gelatin, adding vanilla at the end..

[nbock1]

Ok, this seems better, I've come across it a few times, but I shy away from shortening. Maybe 1/2 c butter instead of both. It would make for a creamier mouth feel too.

1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. milk
2/3 c. shortening
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. powdered sugar

[KittyF]

Coconut oil is what hydrogenated oils was invented to replace so why not go back to it? Lard is another option. those are at least natural alternatives.

[nbock1]

I agree that something more natural than marshmallow fluff would be ideal. Although, a brief-at-work Google search is turning up recipes that either aren't the correct kind of creme or also use Marshmallow Fluff. I'll keep looking when I'm not working.

[jjmcgaffey]

King Arthur Flour has several fillings for their Whoopie Pies and Twinkie equivalents. The cream cheese one is
Filling

1 (8 ounce) package cream or Neufchatel cheese
3 1/2 cups glazing or confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or other flavoring)
1 to 2 tablespoons milk as needed

This one's thinner - supposed to go into the Twinkie equivalents - but it might actually work better for the oatmeal pies.
Snack Cake Filling

2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons salted butter
4 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
dash of salt (optional)

In a small saucepan cook flour and milk over medium heat until a paste forms. Stir constantly and do not allow mixture to brown. Remove from heat and let cool 1 minute. Add vanilla and stir until smooth. Press a piece of plastic wrap down on the surface of the paste to avoid forming a skin and set aside to cool completely.

In the bowl of your mixer beat butter, shortening, and sugar until fluffy, scraping bowl to fully incorporate ingredients. Add cooled flour/milk mixture and continue to beat 5 minutes on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy. Use to fill snack cakes or cupcakes. Filling will remain creamy; store at room temperature 3-4 days

Oh, another one - meringue powder (dried egg whites - more stable than fresh ones)
Filling

3 tablespoons meringue powder
1/3 cup cool water
2 cups confectioners' or glazing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup vegetable shortening

KingArthurFlour.com/blog is almost as dangerous to my diet as Instructables...

[susanguare]

Does anyone know why fillings made with milk can be kept at room temperature? Why don't they spoil?

[jjmcgaffey]

I'm not certain - but in all cases, the milk is cooked, and that does make a difference. Hmm, I wonder how it would taste made with evaporated milk?

[angelabchua]

oh man. buh bye diet

[inkstainedpapers]

This looks so yummy. Why did I click this in the middle of the night?

[canida]

These were so good.