Oatmeal Creme Pies!
First, let me apologize for my absence. December was rough. Fun, but rough. But January is here and I am finally back in the kitchen.
Now, to business.
When I was itty bitty and carried a lunchbox to school, my mom used to pack it full of yumminess. Well, at the time I thought it was yummy. Though I remember being jealous of my friend Leia’s lunch, because she always had more homemade-type things. Years later she told me she was always jealous of my lunch because I had Little Debbie snacks. Today we both win! I’ve been wanting to recreate these cookies for years, but have been lacking what I thought was a great oatmeal cookie recipe. I wanted a thin cookie, one that was chewy enough to hold a soft fluffy filling. After some tweaking, I feel confident in saying that I’ve got it. In this batch I chopped up dates into my dough, but next time I’m thinking currants, because those dates are just too sweet for me!
I scooped the dough into little balls.
And smashed them down with the back of a wet spoon (wet is important if you don’t want them to stick). This might seem like a meaningless step, but it makes the cookies spread nice and thin.
While they were baking, I got to work on the filling. I first tried making a simple vanilla fluff, much like the original. My friend Olaiya happened to swing by at the exact moment I finished and confirmed for me that to make these little guys palatable to adults, I needed some acid. So I decided to go with a lemony filling, to balance out the sweetness of the cookie. I ground lemon zest and half of a vanilla bean into sugar in the food processor until it was nice and crumbly.
I mixed the lemon sugar with egg whites and heated the whole thing up before whipping it into a swiss meringue. Into the meringue I folded in some lemon juice. And then I hid it until the cookies were all ready for sandwiching, because nobody needs a giant batch of fluff within reach.
Once my cookies were cooled, I started stacking. It took me a few hours before I was ready to munch on them, because all the snacking during the testing phase kind of blew me out. When it was time though, oh boy was I happy. Little Debbie, you have been one-upped.
OATMEAL COOKIE RECIPE:
8 oz butter, RT
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, RT
1 egg white, RT
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup AP flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 cups oats
6 oz chopped dates
– Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
– Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Add the chopped dates and rub to break up clumps. Add the oats. Set aside.
– Cream butter for 1 minute.
– Add the sugars and cream for 3 minutes.
– Add the egg and vanilla and cream for 2 minutes.
– Add the dry ingredients.
– Scoop onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Press flat with a wet spoon.
– Bake for 11 minutes.
LEMON FLUFF RECIPE:
6 oz egg whites
12 oz sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp lemon juice
– Combine sugar and lemon zest in food processor. Process for 1 minute.
– Combine with egg whites in a kitchen aid bowl. Whisk well.
– Heat over a water bath, whisking constantly until the egg whites reach 160 degrees.
– Remove from water bath and whip for several minutes, until cool and fluffy.
– Whisk in lemon juice.
I made that! 
Love love love this!! They look so tasty!
Those look fabulous! I have tried making these before and mine did not look nearly that perfect.
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Oh boy. Or should I say: “oh little Debbie?”. I was always jealous of the kids with those packaged christmas tree cakes in their lunches. Today, I wouldn’t be so thrilled with them; I would, however, be thrilled to see one of your treats in my lunch bag!
you have just made me extremely happy! thanks for cracking the code!
Oh my God. With every new post you win me over a little more. There’s almost no more room in my heart for your cooking blog. Keep it up. Please.
o, finally i thought “someone who gets the ‘i can make that myself’ mentality.” “why mari, do you want to make marshmallows or graham crackers or _________, when you can just buy them?”
i wandered over via Orangette. you had me with the fig newtons, which i ADORE. but then, the nuts… wel,l the nuts & bacon? i stopped there. my other half is swooning somewhere and does not know why – he loves nuts and bacon.
i wish i was in seattle and i wish i could cozy-up to all the foodies (LOVE the classes idea at delaney’s) but i’ll be content with these blogs, books, recipes and my big stove 3,000 miles away.
Keep up the good work! Are Devil Dogs next?
Mare
I truly love all of your recipes especially this one. My kids will surely love this oatmeal creme pies of yours. Thanks for sharing this.
Yummy! I love the idea of putting some filling. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I better try this one for my kids daily snacks.
Made these, they were divine!
Yum! I was banned from sugar as a child, but my grandmother always had a stock of these in her cabinet. I would eat at least 4 a day every time I stayed with her. Dang I wish I still had that metabolism! I can’t wait to try this recipe! Thanks!
I used to LOVE L.D. Oatmeal Creme Pies as a kid! Your lemon-y filling sounds like a nice tweak. I may just have to try your recipe–thanks!
This is a brilliant idea! I used to love those Little Debbie oatmeal cookies as a kid. I still think about them sometimes and think about them enough that I often start to think that I might want one…then I realize that my adult tastebuds probably won’t find them so tasty. You have solved my dilemma. Can’t wait to make these!
I love oatmeal cookies. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
looks great
would like to receive your updates by email
Yikes, I don’t know how to do that!
Wow! I made these and found them to be an insta-hit. The cookies were excellent; very oatmeally (which I love), buttery, and soft. My disclaimer is that i opted for another stand-by Fluff recipe from my own library, as I’ve never been too keen on lemon-anything in my baked goods (guess my taste buds will never be mature in this respect!). Also, I thought the cookies were even better 24 hours after I made them, and stored in air-tight container. I think by this point the Fluff had time to settle down a bit. The only change I will make next time is smaller cookies, as they turned into giants in the oven. Bravo!
Do you think these would freeze and ship well? I have a friend who isn’t coming home for Christmas, who has a certain weekness for Oatmeal Cream Pies…