Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie Wannabes

 

A luscious mouthful of gingery goodness right here.

I was always a fan of the gooey goodness that is known as a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie. As I’ve become more health-conscious, however, the ingredients therein have become really unappealing to me, especially the presence of egg white in the filling. Ew.

The following recipe is a wonderful homemade version of a very comparable cookie, with a filling that does not involve egg whites.

One thing you can do to make this a little fancier is to snip up the raisins before mixing them in. You could probably do this in a food processor, although I haven’t tried it myself. I’ve just used kitchen scissors or a sharp knife. Another fun thing you can do is wrap the individual pies in plastic wrap and pop them in the freezer for a summer treat. Yum.

1 1/2 c shortening
1 c brown sugar
2 flax eggs (6 Tbsp hot water + 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed. Let sit until gel-y.)
2/3 c molasses
2 1/2 C flour
2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
3 c oats
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c raisins

Cream shortening and sugar. Add flax and molasses. Beat until fluffy. Add flour, soda, salt, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir in whole wheat flour, oats, and raisins. Form into balls. (If you have a cookie scoop, this is a great recipe to use it on so all your cookies will be perfectly uniform.) Roll in white sugar and flatten with a glass likewise dipped in white sugar. You can use the glass bottom as a gauge to make sure your cookies are all the same diameter. These will spread a little, not a lot, but you’ll want to leave enough room so you don’t end up with square-looking pies.

Unless you like square, in which case, go for it.

Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes.

Tip: If you take them out of the oven when they are still a tiny bit raw inside and let them cool on the cookie sheet for a minute before putting them on a rack, you’ll have a softer cookie.

If you make these just as individual cookies, with a tablespoon cookie scoop, it makes 76 cookies. If you do a sandwich cookie with filling, it will make half that amount. Obviously.

Filling recipe:
1 stick butter sub (I used Nucoa) at room temperature-ish
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 tsp vanilla extract

With a mixer, mix the butter, shortening, and sugar until it is combined. It will look crumby. Then add the vanilla to get a nice creamy thick frosting.

This should fill all the cookies as long as you don’t go overboard. You can see approximately how much I put in each sandwich. If you want thicker filling, just double the recipe.

I know you wanted another look.

Every Blog Has to Have a First Post: Baked Oatmeal

21 years ago, on a dusky November evening, my family pulled into the driveway of some friends, who opened their home to us our first few days in our new state of Idaho while we found a place to live. This family loves to socialise, and they love food, and many of my favourite memories involve times at their house.

The next morning we were welcomed to consciousness by the warm loveliness of something I’d never encountered before in all my seven and a half years: baked oatmeal. It was love at first taste.

I have, over the years, made modifications to the original recipe so that I have a vegan version. (I’m not hardcore vegan, but prefer it on the whole, so much of what you see on this blog will reflect that.) How many does it serve? Well, my husband and I can clear out the entire pan in one breakfast. We are rather voracious consumers of foody goodness.

Warm, luscious breakfasty goodness.

Without further ado, here’s the recipe:

2 whole eggs, beaten (vegans: substitute 4 T water mixed with 2 T ground flaxseed)
½ cup honey (or agave, or just substitute water if you’d rather not have sweetener)
1 cup milk (soy, rice, cocoanut, whatever)
½ cup melted butter (Nucoa margarine or olive oil)
3 cups rolled oats (other rolled grains can be used, or gluten-free oats!)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups frozen blueberries, unthawed (fresh berries and any kind of berry can be substituted)

Beat the eggs. Stir in honey. Add milk and melted butter or oil.

Add dry ingredients. Stir in blueberries last.

Put into an ungreased 13×9 pan and bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes. It should look nicely browned on top without being burned. Serve warm, with milk of choice.

***

Make this version first, and then try the following if they appeal to you: substitute applesauce for half the oil; throw in some cocoanut or finely chopped nuts.