Oatmeal Creme Pies

a.k.a Homemade Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies!

These were made via special request. I just love special requests, I hardly ever get them! I'm sure in 20 years when I've had LOTS of requests, it won't be so special, but for now, I lurve it. The hubby came home from work earlier in the week, and asked if I could buy him some Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies. Apparently, someone at his office had been eating one and now the craving monster had struck. I politely asked him if I could make them instead. I got an enthusiastic thumbs up. Score!

So here they are! I'm not even a fan of those Little Debbie's but I could eat a truck load of these! The cookie is soft and chewy, and the cream tastes wonderfully homemade (i.e. not like the cream in Oreo's or Hostess Ding Dong's). They really didn't take any more effort than say, making cupcakes. You make the cookies, then you make the frosting. Easy peasy, right? Right.

These cookies may be fairly easy to make, but there is one thing they are not- and that's low cal. I firmly believe a few calories won't kill me, so I'm ok with this. Just don't go assuming that since these are oatmeal, they're healthy. They are sooooo not.

Lastly- The recipe I used models these cookies after the Giant Oatmeal Creme Pies, so the cookies are large and in charge. I found out after making them that my husband likes the little Oatmeal Creme Pies, which are mainly just small, thinner cookies with less cream filling. These recipe calls for a 2 tbsp cookie scoop, but if you wanted to make the cookies smaller and thinner, use a 1 tbsp cookie scoop. You'll have double the cookies, but someone out there will really love you if you bring them some of these cookies!

Is everyone having a fabulous Thursday? I should hope so, it's almost Friday :)

Ingredients (makes 16-17 sandwiches):

Cookies-
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, room temp
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp molasses
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
3 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats

Creme-
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until pale and creamy. Mix in egg, vanilla, and molasses.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk to combine flour through quick cooking oats. Add dry ingredients to wet, and mix. The dough becomes very thick after a couple of seconds, you may need to turn the mixer off and finish mixing the dough by hand.
4. Using a 2 tbsp cookie scoop, drop dough onto cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Cookies spread significantly. I placed 9 cookies per sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Cookies will look underdone, but they should be pulled anyway. Allow to cool 3 minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove to a cooling rack. Let cookies cool completely before frosting and sandwiching.
5. To prepare frosting, beat butter in a large bowl for 1 minute, or until creamy. Add powdered sugar, and beat for another 2-3 minutes. Mix in heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. If frosting is too thick, add a touch more cream.
6. To assemble cookies, spread about 1.5 tbsp's frosting on the bottom half of a cookie, then sandwich with another cookie. Store cookies on the counter in an airtight container up to 2 days. After 2 days, cookies should be refrigerated to maintain the best quality.

Recipe by Sally's Baking Addiction.

Linked up to: Weekend Potluck