Faux-Reos
Who doesn't love these dark-as-sin sandwich cookies? Who hasn't ALWAYS loved them? They're a childhood favorite, but let's face it; many of us still rank them #1 in our personal Cookie Hall of Fame.
This updated classic includes trans-fat-free shortening in the filling, and organic white whole wheat flour in the cookie. Use our regular King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (or our unbleached organic flour) if you must; but trust me, you'll never know you're eating whole wheat when you bake with our King Arthur 100% Organic White Whole Wheat Flour. I say this with pride: it's the best flour on the planet!
P.S. Spring for the black cocoa, too; it makes these cookies black as a moonless night, just like the supermarket originals.
Read our blog about these cookies, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.
Cookies
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional but good
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or white whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup black cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa
Filling
- about 6 standard-size candy canes or 3 ounces peppermint hard candies*, optional
- 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (omit if you're making the peppermint version)
- 2 teaspoons cold water*
- *If you're adding the peppermint candy, increase the water to 2 tablespoons
Directions
|
1) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets, or more if you have them. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7) While the cookies are cooling, make the filling. If you're making the peppermint version, break the candy canes into pieces, and process them with the confectioners' sugar in a food processor till they're pretty finely ground. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 30 mins. to 40 mins.
- Baking time:
- 20 mins. to 20 mins.
- Total time:
- 50 mins. to 60 mins.
- Yield:
- about 27 sandwich cookies
- Recipe comments (13) »
Reviews
10/20/2009
THE COOKIES WERE OK, BUT THE FROSTING MADE WITH SHORTENING, WAS NOT GOOD. WHY NOT USE MARGARINE OR BUTTER, AND GET RID OF THE GREASY TASTE. If you've been reading the blog, you'll see that we take on challenges from time to time to replicate mass market favorties. Feux-reos were one of those. Shortening was exactly what was wanted for the filling. If you would like a bit less heavy filling try using half butter, half shortening. Frank @ KAF.
09/06/2009
these were wonderful! for those of you who dont have a cookie scoop, i tried a trick that really worked. i used the KAF yeast measuring spoon. just the right size. my husband had been studying all day. i interrupted him with one of these. his first bite, he slowly smiled and sid these but oreos to shame. i did spring for the black cocoa. i did what was suggested anddippid a glass in the cocoa to flatten them. be forewarned, it is going to make the cookies messy. the excess cocoa will get on your fingers while eating. just one more fun part of eating these. you will need to lick your fingers off at the end. heavenly.
08/19/2009
I made a trial batch of these today for a baby shower I'm throwing on Saturday. I must say, as a very novice baker, these were easy! I did add a bit more water to the filling mix (a Tbs) which made spreading it much easier. They look so cute that I even posted a picture of them on Facebook. Thanks again!
08/05/2009
These were great! I chilled the dough, then rolled it to a little thicker than 1/8 inch and cut out fluted circles with a 2" cutter. The dough was very easy to work with and I had very uniform cookies to sandwich together. I chilled the cookies on the sheet for 10 minutes before baking them - my kitchen was warm. I divided the filling into thirds and flavored one with mint and one with espresso powder, leaving the last one plain. All the flavors were a hit! The recipe yielded 50 sandwich cookies for me - though even THAT may not be enough!
07/29/2009
So much better than commercial Oreo-type cookies, and very easy to make. I didn't have black cocoa on hand so I used natural (non-dutched) cocoa with great results, the only difference was a lighter brown cookie.
06/30/2009
After my younger brother and husband decided the Faux-Reos recipe had to be tried, I started baking. I cut the recipe in half because I'm not a fan of making large batches of new things, but I should have been brave and made a complete batch. My husband loved them, my Dad (who doesn't eat sweets) gobbled them up, and my sister in law who was in charge of bringing them to my brother ate them all before she even made it home. Needless to say, I owe my brother some faux-reos.
05/15/2009
Not quite Oreos - but I'd say almost better! i don't think it's the actual Oreo cookie that I crave, but rather a nice mix of cookie and cream. I tried using raw sugar for these, but they came out a little "rustic" and gritty. They are wonderful with a glass of milk and out-of-this-world in homemade ice cream. Thanks KAF!
03/15/2009
Be sure to not over cook the cookies! They will crisp up a lot once you take them out, and they taste terrible when over cooked! Thankfully I figured thid out before the second tray.
03/13/2009
I was really excited to make this recipe as I have been trying to stop buying processed foods and make more things from scratch. I could not locate the black cocoa or the espresso powder at my local co-op. However, they came out looking just as dark as the real cookies even without the black cocoa. The frosting was a bit too pebbly and I will try to add more water next time as the response from KAF recommends. I also used the white whole wheat flour and I honestly can't taste the difference. These cookies won't last long in our house! Thanks for another amazing recipe!
03/04/2009
Bookmark/share
this recipe