Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Sandwich-a-licious Cookies

I bet you guys thought I was long gone. Well... I was for a while, but I'm back, I promise! In fact, to make up for my long gone-ness, I have an awesome recipe that any self-respecting cookie lover should have in their collection.

Now, what comes to mind when you hear the phrase, 'America's favorite cookie?' apart from a nice warm, chocolate chip cookie, that is. You know, that one well-known name brand that will forever cause family divisions over the table about what's better, the creme or the cookie. Ringing any bells? Good, because I have one that's even better.That's right, you read that correctly. I've found a recipe that will make it easy to walk right on by that classic blue package without a pause.

Look at these beauties: crunchy cookies with a deep, rich chocolate flavor and and smooth, creamy vanilla center. Makes you just want to pour a tall glass of milk and have at 'em. Well, soon you'll be able to. I tried out three different recipes that all boasted having the best texture and flavor.

One had melted butter and chocolate, the second was a classic sounding recipe using the classic cocoa powder and creamed butter technique, and the last recipe used powdered sugar. One full day of shifting things around in my overstuffed fridge to precariously balance a cookie sheet to cool rolled dough and cutting little circles as fast as I could to avoid the stifling heat in the kitchen finally gave way to three very different cookies.

The recipe that involved powdered sugar was the worst. It was too sticky and took forever to cool down only to result in dry cookies with all the oomph of an old piece of toast. It wasn't even worth a picture, so it was out of the running as soon as it left the oven.

Next was the classic cocoa powder and creamed butter recipe, which was okay, but okay isn't going to make people demand more of these every time dessert comes around. I didn't bother with any filling for them, but they did earn a picture:
And then, just as I was losing hope, the first recipe I'd chosen came out of the oven and even the color was perfect. Add the heavenly smell and I was sure I had a winner. Once I tasted them I did a little dance, they were so good. It was a recipe I found in the flour cookbook, by Joanne Chang, who owns Boston's Flour + Cafe, and I have to say, this woman is an excellent storyteller. Every recipe has a tale and the whole book balances the perfect line between a bakery recipe book and enough details to work well for the home baker. She's got a creme filling recipe in the book to for these cookies, but I chose to make my own with coconut oil instead of butter, which gave it the perfect consistency.
Before you go and jump into making this recipe, know that you can go with two different techniques. Either rolling the dough into a log and storing it in the fridge until it is hard enough to slice into circles (a quicker method for sure, but for some reason one I've never really been able to pull off. Eh, apparently I'm not happy unless I'm doing things in the most difficult way possible.) 

Or, you could do it the long, hard and time-consuming, but more precise method (for me, at least) of rolling out to 1/8" thick and cutting out circles with a cookie cutter. And the cookies look so much prettier and uniform if you refrigerate the dough before cutting it and before it goes in the oven. This will prevent the cookies from spreading and bubbling as they bake.

Here's the recipe along with both the original creme and my own substitute. (I know, I know, took me long enough.)

Homemade Oreos from flour by Joanne Chang

1 C unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour (unbleached is best)
3/4 C dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until well combined. Whisk in the vanilla and chocolate. Add the egg and whisk until thoroughly incorporated.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Mix well until fully incorporated. The dough with pull together and become easier to finish mixing by hand. It should have the consistency of play-doh. If the temperature of your kitchen is on the cool side, leave the dough to sit for about an hour to set up, if not, move right onto the next step.
- Now drop onto a sheet of parchment and either roll into a log about 10 inches long and about 2 1/2" thick, roll in parchment and twist ends to seal. Or, set another sheet of parchment/wax paper on top and roll out to 1/8" thick, slide onto a baking sheet and place in fridge (or freezer if you are short on time.)
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and ready a baking sheet pan with either spray or parchment/wax paper
- When cooled enough to be firm, pull dough out and either slice to 1/8" thick slices, or use a 2 1/2" cookie cutter to make circles and place on ready baking pan. 
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, turning the pan around halfway through the baking time. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Vanilla Cream Filling

1/2 C unsalted butter
1 2/3 C confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
pinch of salt

- While the cookies are cooling, grab a spoon and beat the butter in a medium mixing bowl. Add half the sugar and mix completely. Add the vanilla and beat until smooth. Then add milk and salt along with the rest of the sugar and mix until smooth again.
- Scoop by rounded tablespoon onto the bottom side of one cookie, then top with a second cookie, bottom-side down and press gently to spread filling out to the edge. Repeat with until all of the cookies are filled.

BakerNerd's Vanilla Cream Filling

1/2 C expeller-pressed coconut oil (raw or virgin coconut oil tastes like coconut while expeller-pressed has a very neutral taste, which is better for flavoring. But if you want coconut flavor, feel free to go with raw or virgin coconut oil.)
1 C confectioner's sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Note: coconut oil is best beaten with a whisk and using as few additional liquids (such as extracts and flavors) and do NOT mix with milk, it will make a curdled mess. I know, because I tried it. It was ugly.

- While the cookies are cooling, grab a whisk and beat the coconut oil in a medium mixing bowl. Add half the sugar and mix completely. Add the vanilla and beat until smooth. Then the rest of the sugar and mix until smooth again. thickness will depend on how warm the mixture is so try cooling it a bit in the refrigerator if it is too thin. If still too thin, ad a bit more confectioner's sugar until it reaches a consistency you like.
- Scoop by rounded tablespoon onto the bottom side of one cookie, then top with a second cookie, bottom-side down and press gently to spread filling out to the edge. Repeat with until all of the cookies are filled.

Grab a glass of milk, and maybe a spoon to smack away sneaky cookie-snatching fingers, and enjoy!