Oreo Turns 100! Celebrate With a Homemade, Organic Version
Yes, it’s true. The Oreo cookie was first released 100 years ago this month, and Americans have been chomping on those frosting-filled chocolate cookies ever since. Maybe not the smartest habit: Oreos are packing high-fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin and artificial flavoring.
Eating frosting-filled chocolate cookies, however, is an excellent habit (within reason, of course). So make ’em yourself, without all the chemicals!
Ingredients
For the cookies:
1 1/4 cups of organic flour
1/2 cup of organic, unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 cup of raw sugar*
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) of room-temperature, unsalted organic butter
1 large organic egg
For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup of organic vegetable shortening
2 cups of sifted organic confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
*Note: If you’re making the cookies by themselves without any filling, add an extra half cup of sugar.
Method
Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
In a food processor or 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 the dough comes together in a mass.
Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough.
Bake the cookies for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set the baking sheets on a rack to cool.
To make the cream, place the 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 to 3 minutes until the filling is light and fluffy.
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 them together, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie.
Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream.
Dunk your cookies generously in a large glass of organic milk before eating.
And next time, try making your own ice cream cones.
Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for the recipe!
image: Ludovic Bertron
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