Oatmeal Cream Pies

OH MY WORD!! This is one of those "make right now" recipes! These were even better than their little debbie counterparts. I wanted to make a dessert for a youth retreat we were having and immediately my mind went to these homemade oatmeal cream pies because what kid doesn't love little debbies? They turned out way better than expected and the best part is they use ingredients you keep on hand and they don't have any artificial stuff in them. My first two batches turned out flat as pancakes, so I googled and found that Back to the Cutting Board had the same problem. She added extra flour to the dough, so I followed suit and that did the trick! Perfectly chewy, soft and fluffy cookies. I've reflected this in the recipe below. Make these and your friends will rave over them! I certainly had trouble not keeping the whole batch for myself!;)

Oatmeal Cream Pies
Source: Yum., originally Homemade by Holman w/inspiration from The Craving Chronicles

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. honey
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, honey and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

In a separate medium sized bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and mix just until incorporated. Stir in oats until evenly distributed. Transfer dough to a large mixing bowl (this is so you can use stand mixer bowl for the frosting) and chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Remove dough from refrigerator and drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet (or even a bit smaller for smaller cookies). Bake for 8 to 10 minutes just until the edges start to brown. Cookies will seem moist in the middle but they will set up. Cool on baking sheet until set and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cool, on the underside of one cookie spread the marshmallow frosting and top with another cookie. Store in an airtight container.

Marshmallow Frosting

Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
In a double boiler, add egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar and heat over simmering water. Whisking frequently, heat until egg whites become very frothy and sugar is dissolved (approx. 160 degrees). Carefully add egg mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed for several minutes until egg mixture will hold stiff peaks and is light in texture. Carefully fold in vanilla until incorporated. Add frosting to cookie and then top with another cookie. Enjoy!