Homemade Oreo Cookies

I found this recipe on some blog that looked intriguing. I had never thought about making oreo cookies from scratch before, but after this recipe, I think I will from now on. They taste a little different than the store ones, but in a way that I can't describe. I don't know. They were pretty good and are great with milk. I will say one thing though: make tiny, like dime-sized cookies on the baking sheet, because these things expand like you wouldn't believe. It took a few pans to get them down to the average oreo size. Oh, and this recipe will make something like 50 or so small cookies. We have a ton of them leftover.

Cookie:
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. unsweetend cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. + 2 Tbl. butter, room temperature
1 egg

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt and sugar.
2. Beat in the bugger and egg, continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Make little balls (dime-sized, seriously) of dough and flatten slightly on hand (they also turn out very thin and crispy), place about 1 inch apart on greased pan.
4. Bake for 8 - 9 minutes at 375 degrees, set on a rack to cool.

Filling:
1/4 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 c. vegetable shortening
2 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste, which is what the blog author used)

1. Place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and mix at low speed.
2. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla.
3. Turn mixer on high and beat for 2 - 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
4. The blog author talked about using a piping bag or something to place the filling on a cookie; I just took a small spatula and spread it on the bottom cookie and made sure the top cookie was about the same size, and gently pressed them together.

yum! (see the different sizes? yeah, these things get big quick)