I never buy, commercially-baked, cookies. It just seems counter-intuitive. I love to bake, and homemade cookies are always more delicious than store-bought.

Are there any exceptions to this, otherwise hard-and-fast, rule, you ask? Indeed there is (was):

Oreo cookies.

Oreo cookies have actually caused me to establish another rigid rule: I am never allowed to buy them. No exceptions here. Harsh? Maybe. But I can’t have them in the house; they are just too delicious. And if I’m not careful, entire rows of oreos’ll be gone in one sitting. Ugh.

Always one to find loopholes, however, I found a recipe to make my own at home. HA! Take that, you inflexible rule, you.

Not only are these beauties tasty, but they are also fun AND they are satisfying in their enormity. This is one of the rare circumstances in which I refuse to root for the underdog: move over David, Goliath-oreos are where it’s at.

In my kitchen, these rustic homemade cookies have now officially taken the place of those little, preservative-heavy-to-promote-shelf-stability, oreo cookies.

Fantastique!

Homemade Oreo Cookies

Adapted from Sugar Cooking 

Ingredients
Wafers:
1 1/4 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 (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg
Filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening (you could omit the shortening and use all butter, but the shortening helps the filling to set)
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
a tiny pinch of salt

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. 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 two inches apart. With a flat-bottomed glass, slightly flatten the dough by pressing down lightly. 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, vanilla, and salt. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a round tip, pipe the 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.

I no longer need to eat an entire sleeve of commercial oreos. One of these beasts more than does the trick.