What is better for a bake sale then Oreo cookies?
Oreo cookies made from scratch!.
So when my sister called and asked me to make something for my nephews bake sale to raise money for his basketball team, I couldn't say no. (or I didn't want to say no cause any good excuse to bake right!) Plus I had just found this awesome recipe on one of my favorite blogs, my name is yeh, for home made Oreos that I have been super excited to try, so it kind of worked out. But before I committed to the Oreo, I wanted to just double check with my nephew and see what he might want me to make because it was his bake sale.
This is the conversation we had. And yes, it was through text.
Me- "Hey bud, what do you want me to make for your bake sale? Cupcakes, cookies, donuts, or brownies"
Jack- " Yea!"
Me- "Yea what?"
Jack- "Make that."
Me- "Make what?….Hello!! What do you want me to make? Should I make Oreos?"
Jack- I WANT OREOS!"
Ok.. So it took a little while, but we got there. And after the the basketball game and the super successful bake sale..
ME-"Did you see the Oreos?"
Jack- "What do you mean?"
Me- "The Oreos I made for the bake sale…the ones you wanted me to make"
Jack- "There was a bake sale? I want Oreos"
Yup, that's the attention span of my 13 year old nephew. Little shit head. But for real, I had so much fun making these cookies and I am definitely going to be making them again. Plus they were a super hit at the sale.
I am the best aunt! (and sister!)
Cookie Time! Whats going on here is brown sugar and butter have be beaten together until nice and fluffy Then a good big splash of vanilla and another 2 big splashes of coffee are added to that.(I sacrificed my last few sips of my coffee for these cookies) The dry stuff, flour, salt and cocoa powder, are whisked together, waiting to be added to the wet. 
Mix the dry ingredients into the wet and mix. I ended up just using my hand and kind of squish mixing everything together until in tuned into a nice lovely uniformed dough. Form the dough into 2 balls and give each a few kneads to get any air bubbles out. Place dough back into bowl and stick in the fridge to sit for 10-15 minutes( it makes the dough a little easier to work with)
Once the dough has had a little time to rest and cool, remove from fridge, one ball at a time. Place on a lightly cocoa or powdered sugar dusted surface and roll out the dough. Grab any size circle (or other shape) cookie cutter and get to shaping the cookies. Notice the tin can in the bowl? I could't find my biscuit cutters anywhere but the can was the perfect size, and it worked really well. Keep a little bowl of either powered sugar of cocoa to dip the cutter in in between making the cookies. It really helps the dough from sticking and breaking.
When you have cut out your cookies, use a spatial and place them on a baking sheet. You can try to transfer with you hands, but you end up messing up the shape and most of them will break anyway.
Stick the cookies in the oven for about 15 minutes a batch and continute to roll and cut out the cookies until you have no dough left.
While the cookies are getting their cool on, make the cream filling. All you need is a stick of butter, about 4 cups of powdered sugar, some vanilla and a few splashes of heavy cream. Beat that all up until nice and creamy thick and spoon it into a pastry bag (I used a big old ziplock bag) to be piped on the cookies. 
Filling the cookies is for sure the best part. Separate the cookies into pairs and pipe a big blob of filling onto one of the two cookies. Take the names cookie and place on top, giving it a little smooth to the disperse the cream. Keep doing that until the cookies are all filled.
Stacks of cookies… Sold to the highest bidder! I was told that they sold out within the first half hour at $1.50 a pop….Should have charged $5…. for a good cause right?
And yes, even though he was being a space head and didn't even care that I just made him like 50 bucks for his team, I still saved the kid one.He just had to give me either a hug or 5 bucks for it.
I got a hug. (I really wanted the 5 dollars)
-C
From Scratch Oreo Cookies
Adapted by Molly Yeh from My Name is Yeh!
The cookie (makes about 18 3 inch Oreos)
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup or 2 sticks soften butter (use earth balance for vegan)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons brewed coffee
The filling
- 1 stick soft butter (us earth balance for vegan)
- 2 tablespoons heavy or whipping cream (use a nut or soy milk for vegan)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cookies- In a large bowl cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and coffee and mix together. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder. Add dry to wet and mix together unit a uniform dough forms. Dump out onto a lightly cocoa or powdered sugared surface and knead dough a few times. Split ball into two balls, place in bowl, and stick in the fridge for 15 or so minutes.
Preheat oven t0 325 degrees
When dough is chilled, remove one ball at a time, and roll dough out on a cocoa or powdered sugar dusted counter until its about 1/4 inch thick. With a round (any shape would work) cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as you can. In between sits, dip cutter in a sugar and cocoa to keep the cookie from sticking. Transfer cut out cookies onto a baking sheet with a spatula. Take scraps, roll into a ball, and roll out again. Keep doing that until you can't cut out any more. (You can either bake a weird shape cookie or just eat the dough)
Bake cookies for about 15 minutes or until the cookie has risen a bit and the tops have lost their glossiness and look cooked. Remove from oven and let cookies dry on a wire rack.
Make the filling
Filling- Beat together butter, sugar, vanilla, and cream until completely mixed and is at your optimal consistency. Add a drizzle more cream if you want to thin out or add more sugar for a thicker cream.
Stick the filling into a piping bag or ziplock bag an snip the end. With cookies in pairs, pipe a big dollop of filling onto one of the two cookies. Place the naked cookie onto the filled cookie and give a smooth to distribute the filling.
lick your fingers and eat a cookie.
If selling at a bake sale, charge $3 a cookie…. If it's for a good cause.
I don't know if I have bitched enough about it, but I only have one window in my living space. And as much as I love love love our little tiny loft, I am a person who needs the sun. So when I am home I spend a lot of time siting in front of the window. 
So this project is really easy and fast. I recommend that if you are going to go to the trouble (it's really no trouble) of making one, you might as well make 2 or 5. I actually made a bunch (think Mothers day or Easter presents) and ended up only keeping a s couple. I am going to have to make a few more soon.
Take a piece(s) of paper a little bit bigger then the hoop you are working with and stick it into a pan or tray of water. Let it sit there for a few minutes until the paper is completely soaked.
Take the wet paper and, oh so gently, crumple into a ball. This part can be a little tricky. You want to make as many creases as possible without ripping that paper. (I ripped a few pieces) I found that if I folded that paper a few time, then crumpled that it was less likely to rip.
Uncrumple the paper and lay it gently onto the inner part of the hoop. Now the fun part. Go to town with the watercolors. I used 2 colors per piece, but you could do 1 or 3, or more. When applying the color, use big gentle strokes and let the colors kind of meld together. Watch as all the crumple veins soak up the paint. Try using different dilutions of color. I applied some color on thinly and some on the thicker side. But really, you can't go wrong, just keep applying paint until you are happy. I stopped a few times and held it up to the window just to see what it looked like. When it looked good, I was done.
When you are happy with the colors, let the paper dry for a while on the hoop until it is not longer super wet. I would say about an hour or so, but if you stick it near the heater, it might dry faster. (Just don't stick it in the oven while you are making bread like I did with one.. It just ended up setting on fire. Oops)
Happy St Patricks Day!!!!
The stuff…. Super pretty red potatoes, red cabbage, shallots, kale, salt and pepper, and olive oil. 
Dice up the pretty potatoes and stick them into a pot and fill up with water and add in a good tablespoon of salt. Stick on high heat and bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium and cook those taters until super fork tender. (bring them to the edge of falling apart)
Once the potatoes are super tender, drain the water and dump them into the pan with the sautéed veggies. With a potato masher or a fork, mash up the potatoes and mix in the veggies, adding a drizzle or more of olive oil as you go. (Start with a drizzle and work your way up until it tastes good to you) Salt and pepper to taste. 
The most pretty pan of smashed up potatoes that I have ever seen. Eat as a side dish or even a light main dish. Fork is a good utensil to use, but I found that my fingers worked just as well.
I swear I didn't plan this, but today is officially Pi Day! Pi being the mathematical constant of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its dimeter (did I say that right?) 3.1415…… And today's date is 3.14.15. 
The chilled pie crust gets rolled out, placed into a pie plate, trimmed and made all pretty. The bottom is sprinkled with a 1/4 cup of sugar and stuck back into the fridge while the oven preheats to 350. Now is a good time to dice the rhubarb into inchish chunks. Once the oven is preheated, remove crust from fridge and add in the diced rhubarb.
The remaining sugar and flour get mixed together in a bowl and dump on top of the rhubarb. Give it a tiny toss with you fingers just to get some of the mixture to sink down a little. (Don't worry, the filling will be perfect when you do it like this) I also cut up the pie crust trimmings and placed on top… not necessary, but looks pretty and is a good use of the scraps.
And then you take it from the oven and marvel at the beauty.
Dressing stuff. A nice and ripe avocado, the juice of a juicy lemon, a bit of garlic powder (raw garlic is nice too, but grate it super fine) and salt. Simple simple and sometimes simple can be the best.
All stuff get mashed super mashed until smooth and scooped into a jar with a lid. Add about 1/4- 1/2 cup water (depending on how thick you like it) and shake that jar all around.
A roasted beet and carrot, all sliced up
Tossed onto a bed of tender baby spinach
And topped with creamy avocado dressing. Fantastic, so pretty, and makes the day super springy!