So this post is dedicated to a friend of mine who is a cookie lover and who texted me yesterday to remind me that I was failing at blogging regularly. We all need a friend to kick us in the buns and get us back on track, so thanks.

Cookies and cream cookies were born because a new cookie shop opened near my job so I looked up their menu to see what they had to offer. I read through the menu and saw that they offered cookies and cream cookies. I decided  I was going to order some for my employees. Then I looked at the price. They are selling cookies for $2.50/each for the regular size and $1.00 each for the mini cookies. I gave that cookie shop the most dramatic eye roll of life. It is times like this that I have trouble paying for things when I know I’m being gouged. I decided I was going to take my chocolate chip cookie recipe, switch out the chocolate chips for Oreos, and see what happened. What happened was I made 4 dozen for the price that 1/2 dozen from the cookie shop would have cost me. Lindsay for the win! Now as for the taste…duh they were delicious or I wouldn’t even be writing about it. So give these cookies a try and let me know how you like them.

Active time: 15 minutes

Chilling time: 1 hour

Inactive time: 6 minutes

Serving Size: varies depending on the size of the cookies but makes a minimum of 30

Ingredients:

2 3/4 C. all purpose flour

1 t. salt 

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1 1/4 C. unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 C. packed brown sugar

1/4 C. granulated sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 T. vanilla extract

8 oz. mini Oreos, coarsely broken

Procedure:

1. Sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in a large bowl.

2. In another large bowl add the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. With a standing or hand mixer beat the butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy. Make sure you are thorough in this step, it should take about 3-4 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, crack the eggs, and add the vanilla.

4. Add egg and vanilla mixture to the butter and sugar one egg at a time. Make sure you thoroughly combine the egg before adding the second egg then mix thoroughly again.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture a third at a time stirring with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until combined. Continue add the dry ingredients by thirds until it is all combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides to ensure everything is properly combined.

6. Using a mallet or rolling pin, coarsely break the cookies. You want to have larger pieces. (Note: for more Oreo flavor crumble the cookies more)

7. Add the broken cookies to the dough and stir or fold to combine them ensuring they are evenly distributed throughout.

8. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator for an hour to chill the dough.

9. 30 minutes into chilling time, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place a silt or parchment paper onto a cookie sheet.

10. After the hour of chilling time, remove the dough from the refrigerator and decide what size cookies you would like to make. I like to make mini cookies so I take a soup spoon, scoop the dough, then break the dough in half. This creates mini cookies. I then roll the dough in my hands and place it on the silmat. Place the mini cookies about an inch away from each other.

11. Bake the cookies for 3 minutes, rotate the pan, cook for another 3 minutes, then enjoy!

Notes and Variations

• This cookie dough recipe is a variation of one that was featured in Food and Wine magazine’s cookie edition.
• The cookies can be crushed more in order to have more Oreo flavor.
• Chocolate chips, other cookies, nuts, etc add be added in place of the the Oreos.
• I make mini cookies so I can eat a bunch and it’s really the equivalent of two regular size cookies.
• Dough can remain in the refrigerator covered for up to two weeks so you can bake as many as you want at a time.
• The dough can be portioned out and frozen for up to 6 months.
• Refrigerating the dough before baking the cookies ensures that the cookies don’t spread out and become crispy.
• I used mini Oreos because they were in a small bag already but regular size Oreos can be used.
• If you need to get your eggs to room temperature quickly, add them to warm water for a minute.
• Be sure the butter is room temperature and not melted.
• C=cups
• T=tablespoons
• t=teaspoons
• oz=ounces