Christmas Cookie Caper '08: #6 - Homemade Oreos

When I saw this recipe in The Great American Bake Sale cookbook I was like "How cool will we be if we make our own Oreos??!!?" While it seemed like a great idea at the time, I don't think we'll make these again next year. They don't stay crunchy for longer than a day. But they are super delicious on the first day! Dark and chocolatey like a real Oreo. The filling is sweet and so good. We made half of them with mint filling and half plain. I didn't wanna put the mint ones into the cookie tins we were giving away because I was scared they'd make everything else taste like mint. Oh well... more for me! The recipe says to roll the dough up like a log and slice it when it's nice and cold. We definitely didn't do that. I was envisioning lopsided, totally unround Oreos... so I decided it would be better to roll it out like sugar cookies and cut them with small round cutters. We used a tiny 1 1/2" flower shaped cutter. But after they baked, the shape was indiscernable. However they were still ROUND! Mission accomplished. I recommend these, but make them in a small batch and don't plan on keeping them around for more than 2 days.

Recipe from The Great American Bake Sale
HOMEMADE OREOS
Makes 50 sandwich cookies

For the cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup light corn syrup

For the filling
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
5 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon mint extract (optional)

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking soda.
2. In a small heavy saucepan, melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring the entire time. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. (You may also melt the chocolate using a microwave-safe bowl, setting the microwave at half power for 1 minute; re­move the chocolate, stir, and return to the microwave for another burst, if needed. When the chocolate is half melted, stirring will complete the process.)
3. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter with the sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and add the melted chocolate, egg, and corn syrup; mix thoroughly. Pour the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well to blend all of the ingredients.
4. Here's where I changed things around. I divided the dough in half, wrapped each piece in plastic wrap, and threw it in the fridge overnight. The next day it took a looong time to soften up, so take it out of the fridge at least 4 hours before you're ready to roll. Roll it to 1/4" thick. Cut it into 1 1/2" circles. Everything else is the same so continue reading below...
5. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two or three cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
6. Slice the cookies into 1/4-inch-thick disks and arrange them on the prepared pan, leaving 1 inch between each cookie. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are firm. (They won't be perceptibly darker or crispy.) Transfer the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make the filling, put the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until creamy. Reduce the speed to low, gradually add the confection­ers' sugar, and mix until creamy and smooth. Add the vanilla and mix briefly.
8. Oh yeah we did this part different too. Don't worry about rolling the filling into a log and slicing it... that's silly. Instead roll it into balls the size of marbles (it's not sticky so it won't stick to your hands). Sandwich a ball of filling between two cookies and press. TADA! Divide the filling in half. Roll each half into a log just a bit smaller than the di­ameter of the finished cookies. Slice the logs into 1/3-inch disks, and sandwich each be­tween two of the baked cookies. Store the cookies in airtight containers.

Amy Sedaris Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Mint SMBC

WHAT A DISASTER! Okay, let me start over. We’ll do this constructively. We’ll pretend this entry is a sandwich, beginning and ending with a positive thing (the bread) with negative things in the middle (the meat… or veggies if you’re a herbivore). Let’s just say this is going to be a tall sandwich.

Intense Pear won the poll. Hurray, that’s the one I voted for! I was going to use the idea ShannieCakes suggested from Chockylit’s Cupcake Blog. I was going to use her pear filling and pear chips idea. I planned on making Amy Sedaris’ vanilla cupcakes, stuffing them with pear filling, and topping them with Intense Pear ganache and a pear chip. I began drying the pear chips in the oven for an hour. Everything was going smoothly for about the first 45 minutes (that’s the positive piece of bread on top). Meanwhile, I started the pear filling on the stove. When it came time to add the cornstarch and sugar, all the water had evaporated from the pan. I ended up with pear paste. Then I added 1 whole teaspoon of vanilla instead of ½ teaspoon. And since it’s vanilla extract crush, it’s already extra strong. So that went in the trash. Then I started measuring out the ingredients for the cupcakes. I cranked the oven to 350… 5 minutes later… WHAT’S THAT SMELL? Yeah, I forgot to take the pear chips out of the oven. Most of them were burnt and gross. So they went in the trash. Next, since I was aiming to make “fancy” cupcakes, I decided to use the nut & party cups I’ve had since Christmas. I was nervous that they were going to overflow, but alas the cupcakes came out perfectly! And may I just say, now that I've finally done it right, Amy Sedaris' recipe is my favorite vanilla cupcake! (Okay so this is a double-decker sandwich with a positive slice of bread in the middle.) While the cupcakes were cooling I started the ganache... Heated the cream, poured it over the chocolate, stirred until smooth, let sit until spreadable. I won’t deny that ganache is not my thing. I used too much cream so it was like a thin glaze. I tried whipping it. Then it got all curdled-looking and separated. Yuck. So that went in the trash. As of right now, the whole pear idea is out the window. Let’s re-cap: 2 pears – TRASHED! 1 chocolate bar – TRASHED!

How can I save this? My dad brought home some limes from a food show, so I juiced and zested them and start on a lime custard filling type thing. My plan was to fill the cupcakes with lime filling, top them with meringue, and toast them in the oven. Well, the lime custard stuff never thickened on the stovetop. Then it got too cold in the fridge and congealed. So that went in the trash. Let’s re-cap again: 2 pears – TRASHED! 1 chocolate bar – TRASHED! 2 limes – TRASHED!

Now how can I save this? I thought about it for a while and eventually settled on SMBC. I knew it wouldn’t let me down. I flavored it with a bit of peppermint and vanilla extracts. I loaded the cupcakes up with frosting and topped them with mini chocolate chips. And they were delicious! So that’s the positive piece of bread on the bottom. Here are the photos and recipes:

pear chips going into the oveningredients for cupcakes

This stuff smells just like a vanilla bean. I love it!

ready for the oven
oops, forgot about the pear chipscupcakes coolingmaking ganachesmooth ganachenot so smooth after whipping it :(pear "paste"... yucky The final delicious yet unexpected product: Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Mint SMBC

Pear Chips from cupcakeblog.com
1 good sized pear

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice thin cross-sections of pear.

3. Place on a baking sheet making sure that the slices do not touch.

4. Let them dry in a 200 degree oven for about 1 hour (depends on how thin the slices are) flipping 2 or 3 times until they are dried out and no longer soggy.

Pear Filling from cupcakeblog.com
1 good sized pear, pealed, pitted, and chopped into small dice

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/3 vanilla bean (I was going to use 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, until I accidentally put 1 whole tsp in, which was way too much.)

1. Add pear and water to a medium sized pan. Cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat. (At this point my water had evaporated; I doubt that was supposed to happen.)

2. Stir together sugar and cornstarch then stir into the pears.

3. Split open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the pears.

4. Cook until thick, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
Note: The filling can be made a day in advance and stored covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

Vanilla Cupcakes from Amy Sedaris
12 regular cupcakes

3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
3. Beat in eggs, vanilla, salt and baking powder.
4. Add flour in 3 batches, alternating with milk.
5. Mix until batter is smooth with no lumps. Do not overbeat.
6. Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until tops are pale gold and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

7. Cool on wire rack for 45 minutes or until at room temperature.

For Mint SMBC recipe, click it in the drop-down menu on the left-hand side of the blog.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 4
Tenderness: 4
Frosting: 5

Chocolate Mint Chip Cupcakes

71 voters decided that the Chocolate Mint Chip Cupcake was the loser who deserved to be a winner! I'm happy to say that it was a great choice (even though I voted for coconut). The cupcake is delicious, and the smooth minty Swiss meringue buttercream is the PERFECT frosting for these! While browsing in the baking aisle at the grocery store, I came across Andes mint baking chips. Ya know those yummy chocolate mints you get with your bill at Olive Garden? Well it's a whole bag of them all chopped up! They are such a great addition sprinkled on top of the cupcakes.

ingredients perfectly domed cupcakes cooling Chocolate Mint Chip Cupcake w/ Mint SMBC & Andes Mint Chips!!

If you like Chocolate Mint Chip ice cream you will LOVE this cupcake. It tastes exactly like it! Mine came out a little dry because my Wilton cupcake pans are rebels, and they like to cook things super fast. Here's the recipe (from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella), so get in the kitchen and start baking!

MY NOTES: I used plain whole milk instead of chocolate milk. I only got 16 cupcakes filled 2/3 full. Mine were done at 13 minutes.

Chocolate Mint Chip Cupcakes
Makes 18-20 (like I said, I only got 16...)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped, melted
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup chocolate milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (6 ounces) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat the melted chocolate into the butter mixture. Add the eggs, peppermint extract, and chocolate milk. Beat until creamy.
3. In a separate medium-sized bowl combine the flour and baking soda.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture and beat until well blended (DO NOT OVER BEAT). With a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3-3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan.

Mint Swiss Meringue Buttercream (my own recipe)
Makes about 3 cups - enough to frost 12 cupcakes

3 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Put egg whites and sugar in a double boiler over simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees).
2. Pour heated egg mixture into a clean bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 6 minutes (It's very important to beat it for the whole 6 minutes).
3. Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (If frosting appears soupy or separated after all butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3 to 5 minutes more.)
4. Beat in extracts. Reduce speed to low; beat 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth.