Oatmeal Crème Pies With Cream Cheese Filling

Homemade Oatmeal Crème Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

Recipe from: BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts by Stella Parks

Yield: twenty-four 2½-inch sandwich cookies

2 cups / 9 ounces all-purpose flour, such as Gold Medal

I heaping cup/4 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking or instant)

2 tablespoons |½ ounce Dutch-process cocoa powder

⅔ cup/2 ounces plump, moist, dried apples

½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (half as much if iodized)

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1¼ stick/5 ounces unsalted butter, soft but cool-about 65˚F

1 cup/8 ounces packed light brown sugar

1½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ cup/3 ounces golden syrup, sorghum, or unsulfured molasses (not blackstrap)

1 large egg, straight from the fridge, well beaten

¼ cup/2 ounces milk (any percentage will do)

cream cheese frosting, for filling the cookies

For the Cream Cheese filling:

¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Prepare the dry mix:

Sift flour into the bowl of a food processor (if using a cup measure, spoon into the cup and level with a knife before sifting). Add oats, cocoa, dried apples, salt, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon, cover with a sheet of plastic to contain the dust, and process until the oats and apple disappear, about 3 minutes. This mix will keep for up to 3 months in an airtight container at room temperature.

Make the Cookies:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F.

Combine butter, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and golden syrup in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to moisten, then increase to medium and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer running, add the egg in two additions, mixing until each one is well incorporated. Reduce speed to low and sprinkle in the dry mix, then add the milk, mixing to form a sticky dough. With a flexible spatula, fold the dough once or twice from the bottom up to ensure no unmixed streaks remain.

Arrange forty-eight 1-tablespoon (3/4 ounce) portions on two parchment-lined and lightly greased aluminum baking sheets, leaving 2½ inches between them. Bake until the cookies are puffed and soft but dry around the edges, about 12 minutes. They will look steamy and wet, a side effect of the molten syrup in the dough. If necessary, use the inner edge of a 3-inch round cookie cutter to gently nudge apart any cookies that have grown together. Cool on the baking sheet until their crumb is set, about 20 minutes.

Make the frosting:

In a bowl of electric mixer beat the cream cheese and butter, on low speed, just until combined. Gradually, add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Transfer mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a ¼-inch plain tip. Turn half of the wafers upside down and pipe a shy tablespoon (roughly ¼ ounce) onto the center of each. Top with remaining cookies, pressing gently to join them together