Oatmeal Creme Sandwich Cookies

I'm always excited when a recipe calls for oats because I love the texture and flavor they bring to a dessert. It would seem obvious then that this recipe for oatmeal sandwiched cookies caught my eye. Typically, I like oats more as an accent ingredient rather than the focal point, but I was entertained by the marshmallow creme filling and figured they were worth a shot. And they were. Definitely worth it!

This recipe yields a lot of cookies, so when I started baking them I was worried I was going to end up with way too many (wait, is it possible to ever have too many cookies?). I'm actually glad there was a lot of dough because it took a couple of trial batches before I really nailed these the way I wanted them. I typically drop hefty spoonfuls of cookie dough on my baking sheets, regardless of how much the recipe calls for, because I love a hearty cookie. But for these little darlings, that was not the best route. They came out very flat and thin, and I was not able to sandwich the (oh so) tasty filling between them. So, I pulled out my little cookie scoop and found that I only needed a small amount of dough to bring these cookies to perfection. I cranked out the rest of the batch with no problem and still had plenty to share with both Matt's office and mine. They were gobbled right up and the feedback was... YUM!

Ingredients

Yields about 4 ½ dozen

For Cookies:

1 1/2 cups shortening

2 2/3 cups packed brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

4 cups old-fashioned oats

For Filling:

3/4 cup shortening

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 jar (7oz) marshmallow creme

3 to 4 tbsp milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat until combined. Stir in oats.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets, separating by 2 inches. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

For filling… In a medium bowl, cream shortening, sugar and marshmallow creme with an electric mixer. Add enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Spread filling on the bottom of half of the cookies; top with remaining cookies.

Source: Taste of Home’s 2010 Fall Baking Cookbook magazine