Oatmeal Crème Pies

When I was pregnant with my second son, I think I single-handedly kept Little Debbie in business with my oatmeal crème pie purchases. I couldn’t get enough of them, and next to BBQ, they were my biggest pregnancy craving. I’m trying to figure out if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that I didn’t have this recipe when I was pregnant. If I had had it, I wouldn’t have needed to spend so much money on the Little Debbie version. But also, if I’d had this recipe, I would have been eating oatmeal crème pies a lot more frequently, because these are just so incredibly good.

These are definitely better than the store-bought version, and while they’re not “healthy,” exactly, at least they don’t have a lot of artificial ingredients in them. They definitely taste like the store-bought ones, but they’re even more delicious because they’re so fresh-tasting. The cookies are chewy and soft and the filling is absolutely incredible, with the perfect texture and the right amount of sweetness. It was hard for me to share these with anyone, but I forced myself to, and everyone who tried them couldn’t stop raving about them. This recipe is a keeper for sure.

Oatmeal Crème Pies
from Macaroni and Cheesecake

For the cookies:

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

For the marshmallow frosting:

2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

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

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. To make the frosting, 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 (approximately 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.

6. Add frosting to a cooled cookie and then top with another cookie. Store in an airtight container.