Homemade Oreo cookies

Yes, you heard right. Oreo cookies. Made at home. They were tasty. Almost exactly like the original, except the creme tastes like food, not wax. The beauty of making them at home is you have control over what goes into them (no hydrogenated oils), how much filling to use, and you can get creative with other flavors if you're so inclined (Mint! Peanut butter! Chocolate! Green tea!).

Some notes on the recipe: A small 3/4" ball of dough will yield a cookie of about 2 1/2 inches. The dough spreads like crazy, so make sure to space them well apart from each other. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty!

Homemade Oreo cookies
Adapted from Retro Desserts, via Smitten Kitchen
For the chocolate wafers:
11⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1⁄2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1⁄2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room-temperature
1 large egg

For the filling:
1⁄4 cup (1⁄2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1⁄4 cup non-hydrongenated vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375 degrees.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.
6. Enjoy with a large glass of milk.

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies