Easy as pie... er, cookies

It's been several weeks since I've done any sugary baking, the last few days I've been debating whether it made sense to live a low sugar lifestyle, yet allowing baked treats once in while. I find myself having little conversations about this, just me in the room (silently, no worries), weighing the pros with the cons, wanting the best for my family, wondering if once in a while indulging would be all right. There are several things I don't want to see them chomping on, no silent debating necessary - one of which is food coloring, the other, artificial flavours. (Besides anything that sounds like a chemical science experiment!) Finally, I came up with the conclusion that a once or twice a month treat would be fully acceptable, especially since it'll be homemade.

Homemade Oreos

Yields 20 - 30 cookies

as seen here

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened, Dutch-process cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup white sugar

10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 egg, room temperature

Filling

4 tbsp butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (1/2 an 8oz. pkg) cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 F/180 C.
Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
Add the room temperature butter and egg (place egg in a bowl of warm water for several minutes to quickly bring up to temperature). Using the paddle attachment, mix the butter and egg into the dry ingredients until the dough comes together. This can take several minutes. If you don't have a stand mixer, use your hands to make the dough.
Form evenly sized balls, about 3/4 inch in diameter, and place about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Lightly flatten each.
Bake 6 - 7 minutes.
Cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.

Meanwhile, make the filling.
Beat the butter and cream cheese with a small whisk until fluffy.
Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
Beat another 2 - 3 minutes.
Put the filling in a piping bag, match cookies by size, and pipe 1 - 2 tsp filling on one of each cookie pair. Top filling with second cookie to complete the Oreo.

Store in an airtight container, in the fridge, to firm up filling.