RECIPE: Homemade Chocolate Sandwich (aka OREO) Cookies

Before starting on the recipe, I have to give myself a pat on the back. This is the 1st recipe that I've ever posted with pictures for your enjoyment (and to make you salivate). Now on with the show...

This one is for those of you who a) need chocolate, b) feel like baking something, and/or c) are looking to put a few pounds on this week. We received a food storage container back from a dear friend and neighbor with a pile of these beauties inside. Max ate two, the kids each at one, and I'm not sure what happened to the others. Mind boggling. I'm not sure whether to curse or thank this friend for sharing the recipe and I hereby permit you to curse or thank me. Either way I'll take it as a compliment.

HOMEMADE OREO COOKIES

Cookie:
2 packages Devil's Food cake mix
1 1/4 cup margarine, softened
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients well. Drop by the spoonful on an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow to cool 1-2 minutes on cookie sheet prior to transferring to a cooling rack.

Filling:
3 1/2 - 5 cups powdered sugar (start with 3 1/2 and work up to get desired consistency)
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened at room temp
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup margarine, softened

Beat all ingredients together until smooth. Assemble!

Here's a picture of my platter of OREO "towers". Even though there are only 30 pictured, the recipe turned out 31 sandwiches for me (each about 3" in diameter). Believe it or not, I was not the one who ate the 31st - it was Max and the kids who dutifully shared it so that my towers would be even.


NOTES:

• The cookie dough/batter really takes a good beating to get smooth and for all of the dry cake mix to beat in. Be patient and try not to eat the dough before making the cookies (tastes kind of like brownie batter...mmmmmm).
• Make sure you remove the cookies from the sheet after only a couple of minutes. I made the mistake of leaving on an errand and had to remove some when they were completely cooled - totally unawesome.
• I added a even more powdered sugar than called for and little bit of milk to my frosting/filling and really liked the way it turned out. Not too cream cheesy and it made a little extra so I was really able to fill each cookie well.
• When doing the frosting, you can just spread it on one half of the sandwich and then put the other half on. Another option is this method that I used: fill a quart-sized Ziploc baggie with filling...clip off a corner, squeeze a large dollop of frosting onto one half, and then press the other half on. I was thrilled that almost every cookie turned out with a nice, even filling and edge to the frosting.
• These freeze very well...just be sure to put a layer of waxed paper in between the cookies so they don't stick together (though a double decker sandwich isn't such a shabby idea).

Doesn't this just look positively disgusting?

Hope you love, love, love them as much as we do!