Oatmeal Cream Pies -- Vegan & Gluten-Free

Oatmeal Cream Pies

I am a little bit obsessed with Thistle's Summit Bakery's oatmeal pies. I can get them at my favorite coffee shop, The Slow Down Coffee Company here in Des Moines, but what I really want to do is crack the recipe so I can make them on my own. 

The oatmeal cookie has this certain flavor that I can't quite put my finger on. I can't tell if it's just slightly saltier than your average oatmeal cookie, or if there's a molasses flavor--or it's probably just a perfect balance of all the flavors. The texture is perfect too, though--not too soft and squishy, and not too crisp. Just nice and chewy. The oatmeal pie filling is so nice too. It feels cool on my tongue, and not overly sweet. It's all really cookie perfection, which is surprising coming from me because I'm both a huge chocolate fan AND a cookie snob.

At any rate, I've been taking some of my "failed" attempts to work, and people seem to love them. I suspect when you place a creamy sugary filling between any two cookies, you're likely to get positive reviews. Just a hypothesis that I'll probably continue to test in the coming months as I pursue perfection of this recipe.


Oatmeal Cream Pies

Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (I use Better Batter Original Blend)
• 3 cups uncooked rolled oats
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (I use Morton's)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 scant teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 sticks vegan butter (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mashed unripe banana (Use ripe bananas for more banana flavor.)

Filling Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
• 2 1/2 cups (about 10 oz.) powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 2-3 tablespoons oat milk

Instructions:

• In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir to combine and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, cream the vegan butter, sugar and molasses. Add the vanilla and mashed bananas.
• Stir in the dry ingredients to incorporate. 
• Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
• Scoop about 2 tablespoons (I used a cookie scoop) and flatten slightly so you end up with a disk that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and about a half inch thick.
• Place prepared dough disks onto a wax paper or parchment lined pan/container that you can refrigerate or freeze.
• When all dough has been scooped, you can refrigerate for a few days or freeze.

• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place cookie dough onto prepared baking sheet, allowing about 1 1/2 to 2 inches between dough disks.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 13-15 minutes, depending on how soft you like your cookies. 
• Remove from oven and allow to cool about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
• When cookies are cool, prepare filling by creaming together the vegetable shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons oat milk. If the filling seems too stiff, add a little more oat milk, taking care not to overdo it. Continue to mix until very smooth and creamy.

• Build cookie sandwiches by scooping about 1 tablespoon of filling onto the bottom of one cookie and then top with another. Squish together carefully until filling is almost to the edge.

• Store oatmeal pies in an airtight container.

Makes about 20-22 cookie sandwiches