Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies
I had to save the best for last this week. Oatmeal Cream Pies were my all time favorite. There’s just something about that soft chewy oatmeal cookies with the cream filling smooshed between.
I have a confession to make about the store bought version of this cookie. When I was in High School, I was the yearbook editor senior year with a good friend of mine K. He and I had a class period each day to do yearbook work as an independent study class. We had the yearbook room to ourselves for one hour a day. It was a lot of fun. We kept Oatmeal Cream Pies in the yearbook drawer and would house these things on a regular basis. We’d go through a disgusting amount of these cookies in one hour. Thank goodness for my high-school metabolism (which has since vanished), as well as my stomach of steel. Oh man, parts of high school were a good time.
Back to reality. In the past 10+ years since then, my stomach has become more sensative to dairy and other foods, and I have to work to not gain weight. I’ve learned a lot about how to eat healthy and gained quite the love of cooking and baking. I’ve also learned that most store bought foods can be made a hundred times better at home.
These cookies are no exception. The brown sugar in the cookies keeps them perfectly soft and the filling is so much better than what’s in the store bought version. It’s like a homemade marshmallow fluff, and it’s amazing. I packaged them in celophane bags so they were easy to throw into lunches for me and Hubby this week.
One Year Ago: Best Dang Thing Ever Bars
Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies
Yield: 24
Ingredients:
For the Cookies
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
2 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp boiling water
For the Filling
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp unflavored gelatin (about 1 1/2 packets)
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup water (divided)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
8 ounces vegetable shortening
Directions:
Make the cookies
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside (or use parchment).
Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, sift together the salt, flour, and baking powder. Add to the creamed mixture. Add the cinnamon and oats. Mix well.
In a small dish, add the baking soda to the boiling water, and then stir the mixture into the rest of the batter. Mix well.
Drop by the tablespoon onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake until the cookies are firm and just starting to turn golden around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack or a plate.
Make the filling
In a small measuring cup, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water. Let stand, stirring once or twice until the gelatin softens, about 5 minutes.
In a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup hot water until well blended. Continuing to stir, raise the heat to high and bring to a full boil. Continue boiling for 30 seconds. Immediately remove from the heat. Stir in the gelatin mixture until it dissolves completely.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the vanilla.
With a mixer on medium speed, beat for 20 seconds. Gradually raise the speed to high and beat until the mixture is stiffened, white, very fluffy, and cooled to barely warm, about 5 minutes.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar.
Add the shortening and beat until completely smooth.
The filling will set up as it sits, so wait until it is thick enough to spread or pipe before filling the cookies.
Recipe from How to Eat a Cupcake
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
What a great and yummy idea! I wish I lived closer and could have joined. I need to research the bakeries in Phoenix and find some delicious cupcakes.
What an amazing idea and post, awesome.
what a great post and a fun idea!
You did SUCH a great job with this. I’m so happy it went well for you! And no rain? Double bonus!!!
How neat, all the cupcakes look yummy to me!
Very cool! Your group must have been exhausted at the end of the day. I am from Boston but now live in PA, your post made me want to head home for a visit. 🙂
Thanks everyone. We definitely lucked out with the weather. It was a bit hot, but not unbearable.
It was an exhausting day. I think we left the last bakery around 8:30. Hubby and I grabbed some dinner and got home around 11:00. We were exhausted!
I am jealous! This is right up my alley. I need to get myself out to Babycakes ASAP!
I used to live in Quincy and a stop into Babycakes was mandatory at least once a week for DH and me.
i live in the north end and have been wondering about the new lyndell’s!! great info for a fellow bostoner!!
What a great crawl! Glad to see you had fun and I hope to make a stop to check these out when I’ll be visiting in a few months! I’ve been on a slight commenting hiatus with my busy schedule lately… but it’s great to catch up and see what’s cooking in your kitchen!
Such a fantastic idea – I love Boston… and cupcakes.
What a great idea! I am in Boston and I am amazed at all of the cupcake shops that keep popping up. And another one: I just read that Todd English is opening “Curly Cupcakes” on Charles street!
kitchenbelle.com
fabulous idea for 24,24,24! i’m hungry for cupcakes now….
Great post! I can’t wait to try some of these places out the next time I’m in Boston.
Love this idea! Great post and pictures. The straw in the Pink Lemonade cupcake at Sweet is so cute!!
Thank you SO much for this! Although, I wish I had all of this info on Friday when we were wandering around town just for fun! I am SO going to have to try some of these places!
I love the fact that you did this crawl – I wanted to do the same thing after reading a Boston.com article a few months ago but never got off my lazy butt to do it. You’ve inspired me to start visiting some of these places.
From a wedding standpoint, I love all the pictures of the cupcakes – this is because I want them as a part of my wedding reception and need to find the right bakery to get them from.
As always, great post!
You forgot to try the the only cupcake store that would have scored a 5.0. Sensational cupcakes in saugus just 10 mins from boston. You really should try them they are simply sensational. http://Www.sensationalcupcake.com
Thanks for the note about Curly Cupcakes, I’ll have to check that out too.
As mentioned in the post, we were only trying cupcake bakeries that were accessable via the T. We wanted to be able to rate bakeries that anyone could get to in the city. There are quite a few other bakeries that don’t meet that criteria. I’ll definitely have to try Sensational Cupcakes next time I’m in the Saugus area though.
you should have gone to Lyndell’s – the *real* Lyndell’s – in ball square close to Davis. their cupcakes are great. there is also an adorable cupcake-related story about Lyndell’s: http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/homepage/x418534015/Groom-to-be-My-love-is-like-a-Lyndell-s-cupcake
I agree with everyone that this was a great idea and I love reading the reviews. I also second the idea of going to the real Lyndell’s in Somerville, it is the same place, but the original store. However in my opinion the best thing at Lyndells is their black and white cookies. They are like flat cupcakes more than cookies and the frosting on them is at least an inch thick. Their chocolate frosting is A-MA-ZING!!!
I have to give a nod to Lyndell’s in Somerville.I ended up with a ton of goods from them at The taste of Somerville.
If you’re out on the T again you have to check out Sweet Tooth in South Boston just up Broadway from the Broadway T stop. Their cupcakes are enormous and are the absolute best I’ve ever had.
http://www.sweettoothboston.com/
They are also available at Lamberts in downtown Boston.
I love the idea of the Boston Cupcake Crawl. All the cupcakes look amazing and makes me want a cupcake!
VERY cool! I haven’t been to a bakery for cupcakes (anything, really) here in FL.
Have you come down off your sugar high yet? 🙂
~ingrid
It sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks for the recommendations and ratings – it’s always good to get another perspective (other than yelp)!
that’s the cutest idea ever!!!
i really enjoyed one of kickass cupcakes vegan pumpkin spice cupcakes once, and I hear that sweet has vegan offerings on Mondays! I can’t wait to check it out!
How fun! Man I wish we were neighbors. I’d love to cupcake crawl with you! I totally have to jank this idea for my hood. Complete with your cute little scorecards and goodie bags. J’dorable!
/Clara
Please come see me as part of your next cupcake crawl, Sugar Bakery… I am the cupcake lady ask for me. Always loooking to know if people enjoy my cupcakes:)
Please come by sugar bakery ask for me, I would love to be part of your next adventure. Always looking to see what people think of my cupcakes 🙂
What a great 24,24,24 theme!!
I just got selected for this month and am very excited!
I also just got back from Boston where I did a great walking tour of the North End Market area:
http://www.eatlivetravelwrite.com/2009/08/north-end-market-tour-boston-1.html
(and the two posts that follow it!)
What a brilliant idea! I think I’ll try and organise a cupcake crawl now! Loving the little bags you made 🙂
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