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!

_{*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.}

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

Step 2: Basic Walkthrough and Tips!

First, you'll make the cookie dough, and then you'll make the creme while the cookies are going in the oven in batches. The creme needs to chill in the fridge after it's made.

Here are some tips for making the cookies:

It works best if you leave the dough in the fridge between batches. I could only fit 9 cookies at a time on the sheet, and I ended up doing four batches. If you let the dough sit out the entire time, it will get too warm. Warm dough spreads like crazy in the oven - I learned this with my first batch. I was so busy taking pictures that it sat for too long. The cookies still taste great, but they're fragile and hard to work with. :)
Your cookies will spread more evenly if you take out the amount of dough you want and roll it in your hands to form a ball.
Don't over-cream the butter and sugar mixture when making the dough - if you put too much air into it, your cookies will spread like crazy. Only chilling can fix this.
Make sure to really whip the cream. You want it to be very fluffy - if it looks like it's too runny after a few minutes of beating, add a little more powdered sugar.

Step 3: Cookie Dough, Part One.

Cream the room temperature butter, sugar, molasses, vanilla and eggs together, until well combined. Remember not to beat this mixture too long. :)

(Yes, I dumped it in all at once. Yes, I know this is unorthodox. But it works. :D)

Step 4: Cookie Dough, Part Two.

Place the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix well with a fork.

You'll then dump half of this mixture into the wet ingredients and beat it together. Scrape the sides down to make sure you don't have any dry spots. Once it's all combined, dump in the other half of the flour mixture and mix! Scrape down the sides again to double check for combined-ness. :)

Step 5: Cookie Dough, Part Three.

Mix in your oats by hand, scraping down the bowl really well to make sure that none of your oats are lonely.

Step 6: Put the Dough in the Fridge and Preheat the Oven!

Well, you don't really have to put it in the fridge, but I have found that chilled dough leads to better cookies.

This is especially true if you're working in a warm kitchen.

Preheat the oven to 350 F while you make the cream. :)

Step 7: Making the Creme.

For optimal creme: 3 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons of vegetable shortening.

Take your 6 tablespoons of softened butter and your powdered sugar and cream it. Then mix in a pinch of salt and your vanilla.

Once this is done, mix in the marshmallow fluff and whisk whisk whisk until it gets fluffy and "whipped" looking. As I mentioned before in the tips, you can always add a little more powdered sugar if you feel like it is too runny after copious whisking.

Once you're done, put it in a covered bowl in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Step 8: Bake the Cookies!

You're going to bake the cookies in batches at 350 F for 10 minutes.

If you have two baking sheets this will go pretty quickly - otherwise you have to wait for one baking sheet to cool down. Never put cookies on a warm baking sheet - they'll spread like crazy!

You'll be using a tablespoon to measure out your cookies. I found that rolling the tablespoon size lumps of dough between my hands to form a ball worked the best.

Space your cookies at least 2 inches apart on all sides. I could fit 9 on a regular baking sheet.

Let them cool on the sheet for a few minutes when they come out of the oven, and then transfer to a cooling rack.

And repeat, repeat, repeat until done. :)

Step 9: Make the Sandwiches!

This is the exciting part. You will surely put too much creme filling in some of them. I did it several times. Too much in the small ones, not enough in the larger ones. ;) Oh well, it's all trial and error and they still taste fantastic.

Put a spoonful of filling on the bottom cookie, and then press the top cookie down gently. Once you do a few you'll be able to eyeball how much filling you need.

Step 10: Enjoy!

These will be fine for a few days at room temperature, though I doubt they'll last that long.

Christy mentioned that they might be even better after a few days - once they got a little stale and firmer. I have one sitting on my desk in foil as an experiment, and I'll report back. :)

Super special report back: After three days, the creme and cookies have firmed up slightly, but they're still not crispy by any means. And they taste just as delicious. So mostly this just proves they're still amazing after a few days. HOORAY