I don’t usually post recipes I’ve found on other food blogs (and actually the original recipe is from Recipe Zaar, you see my Delicious account for recipes I like from other food bloggers), but I just had to post this one because these are so awesome. Have you ever eaten Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies? These are just like them…in fact, they are better. I used to love these when I was kid, but haven’t allowed myself to eat one in years. While these are by no means good for you, you at least know what all the ingredients are and you don’t have to worry about all the chemicals and whatever else crap is in the store bought version. I made a batch for my boyfriend to bring to his office and they were a giant hit with his coworkers who all agreed they liked them better than the originals.
I don’t have much else to add about these other than “OMG-these-are-so-good-you-have-to-make-them-right-now”, but these are the first cookies I made with my silpat baking mat
Since I got into the whole food blogging world last year I started hearing more and more about silpat
Silpat on the left, parchment on the right. Which one looks more like the original Little Debbie snacks? Definitely the one on the right. The point of those cookies is that they are really soft and chewy and textured. The silpat baked cookies were much thicker and weren’t nearly as soft and it somehow wound up taking out all the texture of the oatmeal (which is kind of magical in and of itself, but not so great if that’s not the effect you’re going for). But let’s say I was making chocolate chip cookies instead of oatmeal, I would absolutely prefer thicker, firmer, smoother cookies. So it’s not that I dislike the silpat, but I think it’s important to think about the texture you want your cookies to be and how that’s going to affect them. I am definitely going to be making my favorite chocolate chip cookies soon because I do think silpat will make those already fantastic cookies even better.
But in this case, I won’t be baking these oatmeal cookies (or any probably) on silpat anymore. To be fair, I felt the ones on the parchment spread out too much and were a bit thin, so I would recommend increasing the flour by about 1/4 cup if you’re not baking on silpat. I did a second batch with the added flour and I thought that helped significantly with the spreading problem without making them less soft or chewy.
Oatmeal Cream Pies
adapted from Food.com via The Craving Chronicles
Dessert | Yield: 1 1/2 – 2 dozen
Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 12 min | Total time: 40 min
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 3/4 cups flour (1 1/2 cups for silpat bakers)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups quick oats
(The original recipe said quick oats but I don’t think it matters that much, my research just said that quick oats are mushier. The general consensus was that you shouldn’t ever use quick oats in baking because they are too soft.)*
*UPDATE 9/17/2010: After some comments and additional tests I’ve determined that you should use quick oats instead of rolled. You definitely get much a thicker and fluffier cookie with them.
Cream Filling
- 2 tsp. very hot water
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow cream
- 1/2 cup shortening (Yuck, I know. I rarely use this stuff. I tried to substitute butter once and it was a giant failure, so you pretty much have to use shortening.)
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Process
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line at least 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a bowl.
- In a large mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, beating after each. Finally beat in molasses and vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat until just blended; stir in the oats with a wooden spoon. The dough will be thick.
- Measure out rounded tablespoons of dough (see recipe notes below for more info) on baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. (I fit three across on my commercial sized baking sheet, two for a smaller baking sheet.)
- Place baking sheet in the freezer for 3 minutes. This helps to prevent the cookies from spreading out too much in the oven.
- Transfer to oven and bake for 9-11 minutes, or until just starting to brown around the edges. They will look moist; don’t overcook (10 minutes is perfect for me). Let sit on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
- While the cookies bake, prepare the filling. In small bowl, dissolve the salt in the hot water. Set aside and allow this to cool.
- Combine marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a bowl; mix on high until fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).
- Add the cooled salt water and mix well.
- Spread about 1 heaping tablespoon of filling on the flat side of one cookie. Lightly press a 2nd cookie on top. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Recipe Notes
For more consistently sized cookies, I recommend using a cookie scoop. Mine holds about 1.5 tablespoons which is the perfect size for this recipe.
These look amazing! I may have to try these this weekend!
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I could use one of those right now!! Look amazing!!
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I have been waiting FOREVER for someone to post a homemade Little Debbie Oatmeal Pie recipe on Tastespotting– i get too guilty to buy them at the store but I will definitely make these at home– great job!
: )
Oatmeal cream pies were my favorite when I was a kid! I would love to try these out…they look perfect!
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I’m glad you made and enjoyed these! They were so good. That post has turned out to be the most popular thing I’ve blogged about yet! LOL
It’s funny that you and I had totally opposite experiences with the silpat and these cookies. The ones I made that weren’t on the silpat spread out way too thin and they ended up crunchy, while the ones on my silpat came out perfect. And I didn’t lose the texture in my silpat cookies like you did. Isn’t that weird? Either way, I hope you’ll give your silpat another chance 🙂
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Your photo is good enough to eat. But we’ll totally take a dozen! It’s basically a whoopie pie, and we like that!
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Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Pies are my son’s favorite “junk” food and he will be thrilled to try these out-can’t wait to make them!
We like Silpats because nothing sticks to them. But they don’t transfer heat as well as regular old parchment on aluminum, so that’s why you get different results. For most of our baking, we usually use parchment.
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Hi, First of all…I love your blog. I stumbled upon it looking for an oatmeal cream pie recipe and there it was! I do have one question about the recipe…in the ingredients it says butter, but in the process it says margarine. I just wanted to clarify that it was butter and not maragarine that I should be using.
Thanks! I’m going to add you to my blog list so I don’t miss a post!
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Thanks, Lisa! I think the original recipe said margarine, but I’ve become one of those annoying butter snobs and I don’t user margarine for baking anymore. LOL! It’s a personal preference as far as using butter or margarine.
I had changed it to butter in the ingredients list since that’s what I used and completely overlooked it in the instructions. I just changed it now. Sorry for the confusion!
Sending a little blog adoration your way. You’ll see what I mean if you head over to my blog.
just came across your blog and love it! just wanted to give a shout out about spectrum palm shortening. none of the hydrogenated crap. https://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=87
Thanks! I’m definitely going to check out that shortening. I’ve been coming across more and more recipes that call for shortening lately and I just hate using it, so this looks like a good alternative.
Would blackstrap molasses taste okay in this recipe? I don’t have the regular kind.
Thanks!
I honestly don’t know as I don’t think I’ve ever tried that kind of molasses, but since the recipe only calls for a tablespoon, I’d say it would probably be fine. It might affect the taste a little bit if that molasses tastes really different from normal molasses, but I doubt it would be detrimental since it’s such a small amount.
Thanks for the reply. Blackstrap has a strong flavor, so I’ll combine it with more brown sugar, just in case. Thanks! I may make these today.
These were fantastic! I’m eating leftovers right now, and there just as good as they were yesterday. Thanks!
I made these for a family gathering they were AWESOME!! I added the extra flour for the cookies so I don’t know what they were like prior to the extra flour. I did not add extra powdered sugar and could taste to salt. The salt taste wasn’t bad I thought it evened out the sweetness of the cookies but on my sweeter days extra sugar would be good. I will make these again. Usually when I make bake goods they are gone as the hit the door. Everyone wasn’t sure especially those who don’t like oatmeal things. Once everyone tried them they were gone and couldn’t get over how delicious they were.
Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to try these…
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These look AMAZING! (I too was addicted to these Little Debbie snacks when I was a kid!) I wanted to comment on the oatmeal selection for the cookie part of the recipe…I read somewhere a long time ago that quick oats are better for cookies because cookies made with old-fashioned oats will spread out much more, sometimes to the point of becoming lace cookies. I have actually done experiments by splitting a full batch of oatmeal cookies in half and using the quick oats in one half and the old-fashioned oats in the other, and the quick oats definitely made a chewier, fluffier cookie.
wow!
i just made these with homemade marshmallow fluff (i didn’t have enough in the pantry. btw, homemade fluff is SO much better)!!
these were absolutely amazing!!! thank you so much for passing on the recipe 😛
Elizabeth – Can you post your homemade marshmallow fluff recipe? I’ve tried homemade marshmallow fluff recipes before and it didn’t turn out well. Thanks 🙂
I made these yesterday. They are REALLY good. I made them with all of the recommended changes (1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla) and I also used honey instead of molasses (I didn’t have any). Next time, I would probably modify these changes further as the frosting was a little sweet. I would only use 3/4 tsp vanilla, a little less than 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and a little less salt, so they would not be SO sweet nor overpowered by the salt. I used a tablespoon ice cream scoop to put them on the pan and had no problems with the the cookies spreading too much on the cookie sheet, but as recommended, don’t over cook, they are better soft. Thanks for the recipe and tips, Emily!
I bought organic non-hydrogenated shortening for just this purpose and I’m so excited to bake them tonight! Yesterday, I offered to bake my boyfriend anything he wanted. He thought about it for a moment and said “Hm…oatmeal pies?” I laughed for a full minute, expecting something rich and decadent, but you’ve saved me both from a horribly messy kitchen and hours and hours of complicated work. 🙂
yum! i can’t deal with the hydrogenated frankenstein oils, but love that this is a no dairy filling so that it should remain stable and not have to be refrigerated! so instead of shortening i used coconut oil, which is solid at room temperature like crisco. tastes amazing…just like the real deal. thanks for sharing these!
Cream Recipe: 6 Tbs Butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, 7 oz of marshmallow cream, 3/4 tsp vanilla, pinch of salt. Cream butter and sugar, add in vanilla, whip in marshmallow and enjoy! No nasty shortening and it turns out amazing! May need to add in more sugar if too runny, but it’s amazing! Cookies probably would have been better if I had the molasses, but still pretty tasty! Def going to make my menu for the Farmer’s Market this year!! Thanks!!
I have been baking for years and Have been trying to find a good oatmeal cookie recipe and this wasn’t for me. I followed all the instructions and they were cakey and not very sweet. sorry guess I’ ll have to keep looking
This would be much better with buttercream frosting with marshmallow mixed in it for a filling in my opinion but they were good like this too
Wow! These are amazing. I’ve been trying to replicate the Little Debbies I loved in my youth and came across this recipe. It’s perfect! I bake a lot, and my kids told me that these were the best cookies I’ve ever made. High praise! Thank you!