Homemade Oreos for "Black Swan"

February 24, 2011


Is everyone excited about the Oscars? No. I am! Normally I don't watch award shows, I just wait for the highlights the following morning. But this year I'm actually going to sit down with some good food and a bottle of champagne, and keep my fingers crossed for Natalie Portman and Colin Firth. I've always been a fan of Natalie (she represents for all us bookish, smart, petite girls), and I'm so glad to see that her talent is getting the attention it deserves. Her performance in "Black Swan" is stellar. In my opinion, she has already earned that Oscar.

I wanted to make a dessert inspired by "Black Swan", but I wasn't in the mood for something as tedious as a layer cake. A few weeks ago I came across a recipe for homemade Oreos, and I thought, what better way to depict the light and the dark than an Oreo cookie?


These are the perfect example of two very different personalities crammed into one entity. On one had, you have the cookies, which are dark, richly seductive, and almost bitter. In contrast, the vanilla filling is light, sweet, and unassuming. Ultimately, the dark cookie consumes the sweet filling by attacking it from both sides...but I doubt that your taste buds will care about all the twisted psychology behind these. They'll be too busy enjoying the deliciousness and looking for a cold glass of milk.

Who are your Oscar favorites this year? *fingers crossed* for Natalie!


Homemade Oreos (adapted from Retro Desserts and smitten kitchen) Print

Cookie ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (that's 1 1/4 sticks) of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature

Vanilla filling
1/4 cup (that's 1/2 a stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup (that's about 1/2 an 8oz package) of cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

method
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. On low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue beating, gradually increasing the speed to medium, until dough comes together on the blade/paddle. [Note: It seems like it's never going to happen, but the dough will eventually come together. Just keep beating.]
Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on the prepared sheets. Leave about 2-inches between each cookies. [Note: If you want your cookies to be larger, use 2 rounded teaspoonfuls. The cookies made with 1 teaspoon of dough were small and crunchy and tasted just like an actual Oreo. I'm weird and I wanted mine to be soft, so I made the rest larger.]
With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 6-7 minutes. Allow the cookies to rest on the sheets for about 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Cool completely before adding the filling.


filling
Place the butter and the cream cheese into the bowl of your mixer. Beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners sugar and vanilla. Once combined, turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is fluffy.
To assemble: Using a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Press down lightly until the cream reaches the outer edges. [Note: If you're not as neurotic as I am about precision, you don't have to use a pastry bag. You can simply dollop a teaspoonful onto each cookie using...a teaspoon.]

Depending on the size you make them, this makes about 20-30 sandwich cookies.

18 comments:

  1. Beautiful and surely a lot better than the original cookies! Those look divine and perfect.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Hi,
    I'm a new fan and blog reader. These cookies look fabu! Thank you for taking the time to share it with us (me). I have a baking blog as well, consider yrself invited anytime. Best, Jackie

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  3. Oh yum, Valerie! Those look dark and divine and I love your pink bow!

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  4. I've made homemade Oreos before but the cookies were thin and crispy. They were good but your cookies look so plump and chewy! I can't wait to try this out, I know everyone is going to love these :)

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  5. These cookies look delicious and I will definitely be trying them. I'm actually rooting for Colin Firth to win the Oscar. I like Natalie Portman as well but I gotta say I'm rooting for Annette Benning. I love them both though so I won't be upset if either woman wins. Thanks for the great blog and the wonderful recipes!

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  6. What a great idea to make food based on an Oscar-nominated movie. (Although I'm relieved that your favorite movie wasn't True Grit.)

    I adore the Oscars, and every year I go to a friend's Oscar party. This year I loved Inception, The Social Network and The King's Speech. I'll be thrilled to see any of those movies win big.

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  7. I totally agree! I LOVED Black Swan, and haven't seen the King's Speech. But my grandma saw it 4 times, so I'll take her word for it and support Colin Firth!

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  8. Beth, I did like "True Grit", just not as much as "Black Swan". But I've never seen the original version, which, based on a lot of people's reacions, was much better than the new one. :p

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  9. I don't have a TV so I can't watch the Oscars, but I AM cheering for Colin and can't wait to watch The King's Speech! :-)

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  10. Those are adorable, I saw Inception and the Social Netwrok - I enjoyed them both.

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  11. Hey Valerie! These homemade oreos look stellar, lady:) I've been meaning to make a sandwich cookie for a while, but I keep shying away from it since I'm not good at making uniform cookies. I should though...:)
    Ooh, and I used to be in love with Colin Firth. I still think he's wonderful, but do you remember him 10 years ago. Wow. What an incredibly beautiful young man he was. Oh yeah (smile but seriously)!

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  12. These are gorgeous cookies! We're featuring cookies this week over at the M&T Spotlight and I would love for you to submit this: http://www.makeandtakes.com/spotlight

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  13. Thanks Laurel!
    What an adorable site you have! I'll submit the cookies tomorrow. :D

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  14. I love homemade oreos, and my family and friends would be happy if I made nothing else. These are gorgeous, and I'll have to try the larger, softer cookies, next time I make these. Bet they're great with the cream cheese filling too.
    I won't be watching the awards, but I could sure go for some of the party food.
    :)

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  15. I loved Black swan too, your description of the cookies goes perfectly with the movie. Were you freaked out for the rest of the day, though, after watching the movie??

    Bookmarked!

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  16. These turned out SO delicious! Thanks for the great recipe, I love your blog :)

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Thanks for visiting, and for taking the time to read through my ramblings!
If you have a recipe comment or question, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Baking!
♥ Valerie

 

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