homemade oreo cookies

I got this recipe from the lovely Stacie at Love and Photographs, but I think I'll just post it here for your convenience. 


Plus also? It won't be hard because guess what?


It's only 5 ingredients.


Cookies:


2 boxes Devil's Food Cake Mix (dry)
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs


mix until it makes a fudgey dough (I don't have a stand mixer, so I just use my hands. And it's messy and weird and so much fun. and it works just as well.) It will be really thick. Roll into 1"-1 1/2" balls on a lightly greased pan and back in oven for 7-9 minutes at 350 degrees. Make sure you don't over cook them!


right when you pull them out, flatten them gently with your spatula to about 1/2" thick. wait 5-7 minutes, and move to cooling rack.


frosting/filling:


8 oz. cream cheese (softened. like, more softened then normal.)
3 cups powdered sugar (more or less, to taste)


combine well and place in fridge until cookies are completely cooled.


Sandwich 2 cookies together with a big spoonful of filling! It's best to just put a dollop in the center of one cookies, and squish it down with the other cookie, to spread it out to the edges. Fill them generously!


These cookies are SIMPLE and DELICIOUS. The recipe usually makes me 19-20 oreos (38-40 cookies). And I have always had plenty of filling! These things are a hit wherever we go! 

you know what's really great?

when I expect to have the kind of dinner where we just fend for ourselves in the kitchen, but instead, Devin is in the mood to cook and goes all out (once again) and makes amazing breaded chicken.

when my batch of homemade oreo cookies comes out of the oven just right.

when the truck blocks the mazda in the driveway, so I "have" to drive Rex (we named the truck, btw. nbd) to the grocery store for some last-minute things.

when Thursday is my Friday, and I get to sleep in and spend all of Friday making things with my best friend, Valeri. (more christmas ornaments, wreath, cake pops, and frost said homemade oreo cookies)

when I realize it's Thursday which means there's a new episode of The Big Band Theory on.

when Devin "kisses me goodbye" before retiring to the office for a night of photo editing and homework.

when my new tab "STORIES" gets lots of hits, even when I didn't even tell you guys I had added it :) (P.S. I will update my "FIND US" tab because I... uh... (looking anywhere but at you)... uh... got a twitter... I don't think it's permanent. I guess I just wanted to test the waters. See if it's worth it. I feel like it's just updating my facebook status. I don't know. We'll see how long it lasts.)

when a bridal shower for a girl in my parent's ward gives the opportunity for me to bake a ton of whatever I want. (hence the cake pops and homemade oreos. Devin and I just don't eat a lot of sweets [besides muddie buddies], but I LOVE to make them!)

when I walk by the bookshelf in the dining room and catch a wiff of my bouquet. It's totally dried, and has been for about 6 months... but it still smells like roses. Actually that's not true. It depends on the day. some days it smells good. other days it smells rotton. but lately it's been good...

when Devin edits photos from a session, and I am absolutely amazed at how much he can enhance an image that was already amazing. (visit his website!)

when Carter can read EVERY SINGLE flashcard without giving up. (he is such a trooper! reading is HARD for a 5-year-old! oh man!)

when Aria will sing a song on any topic on demand. (i.e.: garbage trucks, sippy cups, katie, and her baby). It's absolutely hilarious. I wish I could upload the audio from my phone!

resolution

I'm learning to pick my battles. I'm learning to decide what's truly important. I'm learning to think things through rationally before I jump to conclusions. I'm taking my husband's advice more seriously. I'm doing what I can. I am looking for the positive and good in my days. I am appreciating the small things. I am reminding myself who's in charge. I am reminding myself to talk to Him more often. I am being very optimistic. I am going to make a few necessary changes. 

tiny humans discover iPhoto

why didn't I think of this before?


taking iPhoto pictures with Carter and Aria entertained them for endless periods of time! Hilarious!

sizzler

is it just me, or is Sizzler like a 65+ club?

Devin was at school tonight, and my younger sister, Kayla was planning on coming over to steal some of the awesome chicken gnocchi soup he made last night. When she got here, I told her I wanted her to hang out with me all night and she said she couldn't because the family was going to dinner for FHE.

I promptly called my mom to inform her I was inviting myself.

We did some storytelling and a little secret christmas shopping (ahem). until we got the call saying when and where. 

to our disappointment. Mom and Dad had chosen Sizzler. (sigh). 

Maybe I'm just not a steak fan? I don't know what it is. I've just never liked the place. 

But what only assured me further that my complaints were actually backed up by a small amount of fact, is when we ran into a big group of seniors in our home ward out together, and our grandparents. 

Yeah. It must be an old people thing.

Maybe I'll like it more in 50 years? 

The steak was actually pretty good. And I'm not one to complain about free soft-serve. 

But still.

Oh, I love my family. 

We spent all dinner telling funny stories from the past that still make us laugh. 

Like the time my dad was talking about some weird guy who annoyed him sarcastically and he said "i just wanna stick 'im... in a..." and my mom finished his sentence, saying very formatively "a microwave?" while nodding her head like she was being totally logical. kills me every time!

another classic?

when Milo was still just a baby little kitty, my dad was in his recliner holding milo on his chest and petting him, and Kayla sneezed (it scared milo a little bit) and dad immediately scolded her and said "KAYLA!" and she said "...what?" dad says "that was UNnecessary" and she said "dad. i sneezed." (bahahaha) and then he says "NO YOU DID NOT." kayla and i had to get up and leave because we were laughing so hard. 

again. love my family.

what i forgot to mention

is that I have been searching for raspberry extract EVERYWHERE. FOREVER. and have had ZERO LUCK. yesterday, Devin took off on some secret errands (christmas shopping???) and came home with an icing spatula I was in desperate want of, and RASPBERRY EXTRACT. 

he knows me too well. he just gets me. i could try and expand, or go into detail, but it's not like it would make any difference to you, and it wouldn't do him justice anyway. i can't describe how great he is in words, so maybe i'll just stop trying. he just GETS me. nobody else does like he does. nobody. he gets me. (i'm not just talking about the raspberry extract here :) ...)

SO, those sugar cookies i made? amazing. they tasted so good! and i made the frosting raspberry flavored. just slightly. it was the perfect amount of flavor, and so tasty!

also? Devin made his chicken and gnocchi soup. it was AMAZING! he did it all completely from scratch. he created a broth our of like... butter and flour and chicken stock. and it was creamy and delicious. he made his awesome homemade ghocchi, which i still think is better than anything i've had in a restaurant (except maybe communal. but com'mon. it's communal. he'll forgive me for that one ;) i think..). and he added carrots and onion and chicken. it was so amazing. i can't believe how good of a cook he is. 

and i don't just mean my husband makes a mean pan-seared chicken (although he DOES). i mean, he goes out of the box like nobody i've ever seen. he tries new things. he experiments. he teaches me about so many different types of foods and combinations i never would have thought of! and he pulls it off! he loves to cook, and he's GOOD at it. i love it!

having the burrell's over tonight was so fun! joanna was all over the place and all the cookies we gave her probably didn't help, but she just cracks me up! molly is such a good baby. she is so giggly and cute, and christian and sarah are some of the best friends we have! it was good to spend some time with them. we even watched one of my favorite outdoor film series, First Ascent. so good! 

good night. 

hopefully this week goes by fast, because next weekend is going to be pretty great! 

sugar cookies

almost every saturday or sunday morning, i will wake up before i actually want to get out of bed with this crazy un-fightable urge to do or make something. last week (or maybe the week before?) it was deep cleaning. 

this morning? sugar cookies.

i usually lay in bed for a couple more hours, after all, it's the weekend, and I require myself to sleep in at least an extra 2 hours. both saturday and sunday.

i told devin my craving, and he was immediately starved for their sugary goodness. 

after looking at several different recipes online, i settled for this one. mostly because it even says in the title that they will be thick and soft and chewy, but also because i didn't want to refrigerate the dough.

i don't have a stand mixer. i don't like kitchen aid stand mixers, but i did get a kitchen aid HAND mixer, and i use it for EVERYTHING. i will stir anything with that mixer. it's amazing! and i am a firm believe that you can taste the difference in makes when you use a mixer instead of a wisk or spoon. especially with cupcakes. it makes the batter so smooth! 

anyway. i knew the dough would get thick, so... i just used my dough hooks! it worked pretty well, but i ended up finishing mixing it all with my hands. which i don't mind. it's actually fun and makes me feel like a pioneer or something.

the dough was SUPER sticky. i was worried i made it wrong, or that i missed the part where it actually said you DO have to put it in the fridge, but after re-reading and re-re-reading, i knew that wasn't it. so i just floured the counter and the rolling pin. and the dough... really really well. and pretty constantly. and they turned out great! 

well, they are still cooling, and i just brought a piece of one over to devin to taste test and they were still too soft, but i'm sure they'll harden once they are completely cooled. 

lessons i learned?

1. i should probably just break down and get a stand mixer.

2. i probably shouldn't have eaten so much raw dough (it was delicious though!)

3. when you cut out shapes with your cookie cutters, make sure to flour your cutters, too. i was flouring mine after every 2 cookies to keep them from sticking.