Oatmeal Cream Pies

As I am baking with a greater intent towards selling, I find myself attracted to niche sweets. Cupcakes, certainly, have their own little market in the world of baking. And with some recent attempts at making S'Mores (a post on those experiments is long over due), I've found a new interest in reinventing classic sweet treats.

That is what brought me to Oatmeal Cream Pies, that much-coveted treat most of us remember from lunchtime trades in the middle school cafeteria. Whoever wound up with the cloyingly sweet, cellophane-wrapped treat certainly won the trade off. But these Oatmeal Cream Pies are far better and surprisingly easy to make.

Oatmeal Cream Pies
yield: 24 cookies for 1 dozen sandwiches

1 1/4 cups bread flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

1 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment or silicone liners.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the brown sugar and butter together to make a wet, sandy mixture. Add in the egg and vanilla, creaming until smooth. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. With a large spoon, stir in the oats.

Measure out the dough by tablespoonfuls to make about about 24 cookies. Place no more than 6 on a baking sheet to allow plenty of room to spread. Press the dough into a circle to encourage spreading. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool briefly on the cookie sheet before transferring the parchment or silicone mat to a wire rack. Let the cookies cool completely before removing them from the parchment.

Fill with Marshmallow Buttercream Filling.

Marshmallow Buttercream Filling
yield: enough frosting for 1 dozen oatmeal cream pies

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
One 7oz jar of marshmallow cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, creaming until smooth. Mix in the marshmallow cream until combined. Either dollop filling on cookies and spread with a knife or pipe the filling using a pastry bag.