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I really don’t think I’m unlike many food bloggers.  I make my way through the grocery store on the outer edges, starting with produce and ending with dairy with only a few random dips into the center aisles for things like dried pasta, canned tomatoes, sugar, and flour.  We’re increasingly using less and less bottled items since I’ve found it so easy to make my own dressings and bbq sauce (ketchup is next on my list).  But for some reason, when I don’t feel like making cookies, I can’t pass up Oreos.  It’s so rare that I buy them, though, that this usually only happens when the fun holiday colors show up or my hankering for a Double Stuf completely consumes me.  That said, I decided it was time to make my own and being that the Halloween Oreos have been taunting me for weeks, my timing was right.

Homemade Halloween Oreo Cookies

These Oreos may have been some of the easiest cookies I’ve ever made.  In a stand mixer or food processor in an unorthodox cookie-making manner, you’ll add the dry ingredients first (including the sugar), then beat in the butter and then the egg.  It’s almost like making a pastry dough but you’ll end up with a firm dough that will be scooped into 1/2-inch balls, lightly flattened, and baked.  And inside of about 17.5 minutes (give or take) you will have homemade Oreo cookies!  The recipe states that you can vary the amount of sugar but for these cookies, I feel like less is more where next time I’ll use closer to 1 cup of sugar rather than 1 1/4 cups since I feel like they were just a tad too sweet – if you think about it, those chocolate wafers on their own aren’t all that sweet.  Regarding the colored cream filling, I split the white filling into three bowls and added enough color gel to achieve my desired colors then piped them on the cookie halves.  Really easy and such a cute effect for any of those upcoming Halloween parties or potlucks – you’ll definitely turn some heads if you show up with these Halloween Oreos!

Homemade Oreo Cookies
source: Retro Desserts by Wayne Bachman, as adapted by Smitten Kitchen and as seen on Annie’s Eats

Ingredients:
For the cookies:

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened or Dutch process cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar (Use 1 cup for a truer-to-original Oreo wafer or more sugar for a sweeter chocolate cookie)
  • 10 tbsp (1 stick + 2 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg

For the cream filling (white):

  • 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
  • 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375˚ F.  Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
  2. In a food processor or the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar.  Mix briefly to combine.  Add the butter to the bowl and pulse or mix briefly to incorporate.  Add in the egg and mix until the dough forms a cohesive mass.
  3. Scoop between 2 tsp to a scant tbsp of batter (depending on how large you want them) onto the baking sheet.  Continue scooping, spacing the dough balls a couple of inches apart.  With moistened fingers, gently press down on the dough balls to flatten slightly.  Bake for 9-11 minutes (closer to 9 minutes for smaller cookies), rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Transfer the baking sheets to a wire rack and let cool completely until the cookies are firm and set.  Be sure the cookies are completely cooled before filling.
  4. To make the filling, combine the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth.  Add the confectioners’ sugar to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the vanilla extract.
  5. To assemble the cookies, pair them up by size.  Use a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip to pipe a swirl of filling onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair.  Sandwich together with the remaining cookie and press down so that the filling reaches the edges.

Yield: 20 to 30 sandwich cookies, depending on the size