I'm a sucker for those bookstores that sell books at 70% off, and once inside my biggest weakness is the cookbook aisle. My younger son has the same tendencies, and he recently purchased a couple of books that supposedly copy famous brand-name recipes. The first recipe that he was after me to try was supposedly a copy of Oreo cookies. Personally, if I want Oreos (which I rarely do), I'll buy them. But I gave in.We just didn't have the patience to make them as tiny as the recipe called for. I'm sure that's why the cookies were chewy instead of crunchy. They were also sweeter than Oreos, which may have been the result of me not being able to find the brand of cake mix the recipe called for. The filling, however, was just like real Oreos. I don't think they'd make these again, but my son enjoyed the process and that's what counts.
Homemade Faux-Reos
Cookie:
1 box chocolate cake mix (The recipe called for Duncan Hines Dark Dutch Fudge but we couldn't find it. Try to find a mix that is a dark chocolate.)
1/3 cup water
2 Tablespoons shortening
Filling:
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup shortening
2 Tablespoons hot water
Preheat the oven to 325 F.
Mix together the cookie ingredients with an electric mixture, then knead with your hands until it's a smooth dough.
Form the dough into balls about 3/4 inch in diameter (this is pretty tiny and we didn't get them that small) and press flat (we used the back of a measuring cup). Place 1/2 inch apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake for 6-8 minutes (ours took longer), or until the cookies are crunchy (ours never got crunchy). Let the cookies cool on the sheets.
While the cookies cool, mix together the filling ingredients with an electric mixture. Form the filling into balls about 1/2 to 3/4 inches in diameter. Place a filling ball in the center of the flat side of a cooled cookie. Press with another cookie, flat side down, until the filling spreads to the edge.
This recipe supposedly makes 60 cookies, but we got about 20.