Revamped: Homemade Gourmet Oreos

We went to the beach yesterday, and it was such a great day. It was super windy, so you couldn't even feel the 100 degree heat beating down on you. We had a picnic and just relaxed in the sun for the day. It was especially nice because my Mountain Man went out of town to visit home this morning for the weekend, so I won't get to see him until Sunday :( Not so much fun for me. But, here are some pictures from our day yesterday...

Gorgeous Beach Water 

Lookin' Out at the Water 

Me & My Mountain Man

When we got back from the beach, I knew that I wanted something sweet. So, I looked through the pantry to decide what I should bake. I ended up having everything I needed to make some Oreos. I realize I have already made Homemade Oreos once before. I liked the recipe a lot, but I knew at some point I wanted to update it. I just love retro desserts. It's so much fun making old classics into something new & delicious. I used a little scalloped edge cookie cutter, just so that they were that much cuter. It just had the best vintage feel. These cute little cookies were awesome. I mean, we loved these. For the cookie, I decided to make a classic French chocolate sable cookie with lots of cocoa powder and fresh grated dark chocolate, for a richer & deeper flavor. But more importantly, I wanted to make a better filling for these cookies. I didn't want to use any butter or vegetable shortening, but something more luscious. I ended up making a white chocolate ganache, and it was the perfect filling between those dark chocolate cookies. I also sprinkled a little bit of fleur de sel on top of the cookies because I always do, it just makes it soooo much better. We really really loved these, they are already gone (my recipe made about 24 cookie sandwiches)! Enjoy :)

See the Specks of Fleur de Sel

A Stack of Homemade Gourmet Oreos with White Chocolate Ganache

Homemade Gourmet Oreos

For the Chocolate Sable Cookies:

1C AP Flour

1/3C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1t Instant Espresso Powder

½t Baking Soda

½C Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

2/3C Sugar

1 Egg

¼t Sea Salt

¾t Vanilla

3.5oz 70% Chocolate, Grated

Fleur de Sel, For Sprinkling

For the White Chocolate Ganache Filling:

½C Heavy Cream

8oz Ghirardelli White Chocolate Chips

½T Unsalted Butter

½t Vanilla 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set them aside.
2. To Make the Chocolate Sable Cookies: Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda into a bowl and set it aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, egg, salt, and vanilla until light & fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the dry ingredients and the grated chocolate and mix until just combined (the dough will be a crumbly, wet sand texture). Wrap the dough up tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Once chilled, roll the dough out to ½inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Using a scalloped edge cookie cutter, cut the dough into 1-2inch cookies. Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, roughly two inches apart. Sprinkle lightly with fleur de sel. Bake the cookies until they are firm, about 12-14 minutes. Remove the baked cookies from the baking sheet onto a wire rack to cool while you make the white chocolate ganache filling.
3. To Make the White Chocolate Ganache Filling: Heat a medium saucepan on low heat and add in the heavy cream. Add the white chocolate chips into a mixing bowl. Bring the cream to a boil, but keeping a close eye on it, so it doesn’t boil over. Immediately remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate chips. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes, and then whisk together to melt the chocolate. Finally, stir in the butter. Once it is melted & thick, lay plastic wrap over the top and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes (whisking every 10 minutes or so to make sure it stays smooth).
4. To Assemble the Homemade Oreo Cookies: Once the cookies & ganache have both cooled & chilled, fill a pastry bag with a ½inch round tip with the white chocolate ganache. Pipe teaspoon-size dollops of the filling into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie on top of the ganache. Lightly press down to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with ganache.
5. Refrigerate the Oreo for about an hour (I like them best cold, so I kept mine in the refrigerator) and serve with a large glass of milk!

*Check out Sweets for a Saturday for this recipe, as well as many others!!*