Description
Crisp, chocolatey cookies sandwich a filling that’s flavorful and irresistibly similar to the classic dunkable cookie. Even better, these homemade Oreos can made regular or gluten-free—everyone wins!
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), softened and divided
- ⅓ cup special dark (or black) cocoa powder (1⅛ oz)
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- ½ cup sugar (3½ ounces)
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups gluten-free flour blend (3¼ ounces) or all-purpose flour
For the filling:
- 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup coconut butter
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½–1 tsp ground turmeric (for color, optional)
Instructions
For the cookies:
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Whisk cocoa powder and espresso power into melted butter until smooth; set aside.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat remaining 5 tablespoons of softened butter, sugar, salt, and cocoa mixture on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
Add yolk and vanilla and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
Meanwhile, whisk together flours.
Decrease mixer to low speed and add flour in three additions, mixing well after each addition; scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Continue to mix until a cohesive dough comes together, about 30 seconds.
Form dough into two disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with half of the dough at a time, roll dough to ⅛-inch thick on a sheet of parchment paper, dusting with cocoa powder as needed to avoid dough from sticking to rolling pin.
Cut dough into rounds using a 2½-inch round cookie cutter. Transfer rounds to prepared baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart, and freeze until firm, about 10 minutes. Repeat rolling, cutting, and chilling process with remaining half of dough and dough scraps.
Bake cookies until firm and reveal a slight indentation when pressed with your finger, 14–16 minutes; rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let cookies cool on sheet 5 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
For the filling:
Beat confectioners’ sugar, coconut butter, butter, and vanilla together in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand-held blender) until combined. Add ½ teaspoon turmeric and beat to combine. Add an additional ¼-½ teaspoon turmeric to reach desired color.
Roll filling to ¼-inch thick on a piece of parchment paper. Cut filling into rounds using a 2-inch round cookie cutter.
Place filling rounds in center of bottom of half of the cookies, then top with remaining cookes, bottom side down, gently pressing until filing starts to spread toward edges.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
Don’t need these cookies to be gluten-free? They work just as well with all-purpose flour! Use ¼ cups all-purpose flour in place of the gluten-free flour blend and the black sorghum flour.
It’s so important to roll the dough to ⅛-inch thick. If rolled thicker than ⅛-inch the cookies will come out chewy, not crispy.
Not so sure about using turmeric as a natural food coloring? Use just a bit of your favorite gel food coloring!
Make ahead tips:
Cookie dough can be made up to 3 days before rolling, cutting, and baking. Just form the dough into a disk (or two), wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.
Filling can be made up to 3 days in advance. Form the filling into a disk, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use. The filling will need to sit at room temperature for 30–60 minutes before being soft enough to work with. Because of that, I recommend pulling it of the refrigerator when you start rolling out your cookie dough.
