Oatmeal cookies & Oatmeal cream pies

I love oatmeal raisin cookies... kinda feels like eating a healthy cookie, no? Today there are two recipes: one for plain oatmeal raisin cookies and another for oatmeal cream pies. The oatmeal raisin cookie recipe is a great solid, basic cookie recipe.

I used a great vanilla extra that Joanne got for me somewhere in the Caribbean- it smells amazing, nothing like the fake vanilla extract you get from Ralphs. This actually smells like vanilla and it has a hat, so you should try this if you see it.


I didn't flatten out the cookies on the bake sheet so they're round little lumps- not my favorite kind of cookie. But they were chewy and just buttery/sugary enough. Not teeth-achingly sweet.

Look how nice and flat they are! I didn't even have to flatten them.

The second recipe is for oatmeal cream pies, a childhood staple thanks to Little Debbie. There's something deeply satisfying about making something from scratch even though you can buy one for less than a dollar at your grocery store or vending machine. The homemade version doesn't to whatever Little Debbie has in her cookie sandwich. I should mention that the cream involved shortening ): AAGGHHH. I avoid using shortening at all times- all my pie crusts are butter crusts, never shortening. But the blogger noted that she tried using butter and it just didn't work... so I used vegetable shortening. ugh. (but it was so delicious)


It's definitely still very sweet, but the cookie is dangerously tender. The marshmallow fluff holds the cookies together- they fall apart easily in your hands. These are so good, just amazing. Although I am a big big marshmallow lover, this was my first time using marshmallow fluff. It kinda freaks me out. I'll probably just make my own marshmallow fluff next time so it's completely home made.

The only photographic evidence of marshmallows.

I made marshmallows before, but of course I forgot to take a picture of them after I cut them up and dusted them with powdered sugar. They're surprisingly easy to make, but you need a stand mixer for it. The recipe is here. The recipe makes a ridiculous amount of marshmallows- be prepared to have hot chocolate every day, every meal.