Oreo Knock Offs

About 12 years ago, I came across a recipe for homemade Oreos and I decided to give them a try.  I can't seem to remember whether I thought that I could improve upon the original Oreo or if I thought it would be easier to make them than it would be to go to the store and buy them.  I did have 2 small children at the time so perhaps I just didn't WANT to go to the grocery store with the kids in tow.  My point is that for whatever reason I decided to try and duplicate original Oreo cookie in my own kitchen.  My homemade Oreo cookie was fairly successful - too successful actually.  I ended up with a cookie that fairly closely resembled an Oreo cookie - minus the grooves or the word "Oreo" stamped across the top.  The unfortunate part of my Oreo experiment was that I also cracked the secret to the cream filling in the center of the Oreo.  The cream filling in my cookies tasted so much like the original that I'm convinced that they have to use a similar combination of shortening and sugar to create their filling.  I was better off not knowing how much shortening is used in the filling of an Oreo to get it to the right consistency.  I actually haven't been able to eat an Oreo since my great homemade Oreo experiment, because I still can't get the image of all that shortening out of my mind.

When I saw these cookies in my new Thomas Keller cookbook, Oreos were the first thing that came to my mind.  Creamy, white filling sandwiched between two chocolate cookies - that says Oreo to me.  I read through the recipe only to find out that these cookies were created for Keller because he had a deep love of Oreo cookies.  I was intrigued by the recipe and I was pleased to see that the filling ingredients contained NO SHORTENING.  Keller calls these TKO cookies which stands for The Knock Out cookies.  I renamed them Oreo Knock Offs.

Oreo Knock Offs

White Chocolate Filling
4.4 ounces white chocolate
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup + 1 teaspoon heavy cream

Chocolate Shortbread
1 3/4 cups + 1 1/2 Tablespoons flour
1 cup + 1 1/2 Tablespoons cocoa
3/8 teaspoon baking soda
16 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar




Filling
Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler.












Bring the cream to just below a simmer in a small saucepan.  Pour cream over chocolate and whisk until smooth.  Pour into a container and refrigerate at least 4 hours.




Shortbread
Place flour in a bowl. Sift in cocoa and baking soda.

Place butter in mixer bowl and beat until smooth.  Add salt and beat 15 seconds.

 











Add sugar and mix for 2 minutes.
















Add dry ingredients in 2 additions.








Mound the dough onto a work surface and shape into a 6 inch square.  (It is VERY crumbly dough.)  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Unwrap dough and place between 2 pieces of parchment paper.  With a rolling pin, pound the top of the dough to flatten.














Roll out to 1/8 inch thick.


 





Cut rounds with a fluted cutter.

Arrange rounds on a cookie sheet and bake 15-17 minutes at 325.

Allow cookies to cool 5 minutes on trays then move to counter to cool completely.






Assembling cookies
Place filling in the bowl of mixer and beat until smooth.  Transfer filling to a pasty bag fitted with a small tip.

Turn half of the cookies upside down and pipe a small amount of filling onto each one.

Top each with a second cookie and press to sandwich.

The cream filling in these little Oreo knock off cookies is even better than the double stuff filling in an Oreo - if I do say so myself.  Try them for yourself and see.

Ciao!