BOGART LOVES: Oatmeal Cream Cookies

For me, these decadent sandwich cookies are a reminder of teenage trips to the gas station or high school store to buy treats that weren't allowed at home. Bear claws, mini doughnuts, cherry pies, I loved them all, but my absolute favorite had to be the plastic-wrapped oatmeal cream pies. Soft oatmeal cookies filled with insanely sweet and creamy frosting. Fast forward twelve plus years and, unfortunately, those packaged cookies don't do it for me in quite the same way. Sure, they're still sweet, but the addictive flavor I remember has turned cloying and a bit more artificial than I remember. Trying to regain my deep rooted love for the oatmeal sandwich cookie, I set out to create my own version. Slightly soft oatmeal cookies, spiced with cinnamon and a touch of molasses. A sweet, buttery and faintly tart cream cheese filling. Together, they make one delicious cookie, perfect for the holidays. With or without the high school memories, these cookies will bring you back to a happy place.

Oatmeal Cream Cookies
makes 12

for the cookies:
1 3/4 cups flour

2 cups instant oats

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
2 tsp molasses
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

for the filling:
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Whisk together and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a large bowl, using a hand mixer) beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until the butter and sugar are just combined. Do not over beat at this stage. Add the egg and beat again on medium until the egg is just combined. Add the molasses and vanilla extract and continue to mix until combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until completely combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and using a rubber spatula, mix the dough by hand to ensure that all of the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. The dough should be thick.

At this point, you can either roll out the cookies immediately or mold the dough into a disc, wrap tightly with plastic and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

When you are ready to roll your dough, liberally flour your rolling surface. This dough is sticky, so don't be afraid to use flour. Flour your rolling pin and roll out the dough until it is approximately 1/4 of an inch thick, gently turning the dough as you roll to prevent sticking. Using a 3 inch round cutter, cut rounds of dough and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, 8 rounds on each sheet. Bake the first two pans of cookies for 12 minutes, remove the first batch to cool, and bake the third pan for another 12 minutes. Allow all cookies to cool completely before filling.

To make the filling, combine the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a large bowl, using a hand mixer) and mix on medium speed until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Add the vanilla and salt and mix on high until smooth and creamy, or about 2 minutes.

When the cookies have cooled, fill two cookies with a generous dollop of filling and press to make a sandwich. Continue with the remaining cookies and filling.