Homemade Oatmeal Creme Pies

Intro: 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!



*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

Comments

[dderose]

They look good but the ingredients sound like they will kill me lol

[kazmataz]

Yum! These look fantastic

[duck9cheque]

Mmmm! I will try with your Steps！

[Renee!]

Mmmm! I can't wait to make these to indulge in my childhood favorite, without the scary stuff in the little debbies :p thanks for the recipe!

[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.

[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!

[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?

[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.