Chocolate Sandwich Cookies {with Cream Cheese Frosting}

Homemade Oreos.  These babies are obviously not very much like the Nabisco variety, but are so very delectable in their own way.  These are definitely not new or inventive, but they are so delicious!  In the event that everyone in the world doesn't already have this recipe, I'll share it here.  My mom used to make these on occasion and they would disappear fast!  I kind of forgot about them and rediscovered them last month.  Since then, I've made for 3 different occasions!  By using boxed cake mix, they come together so quickly and can be made super cute and festive by adding a little food coloring to the frosting or rolling the cookies in some fun sprinkles.  

I've seen a few versions that use shortening rather than oil.  I have some kind of aversion to shortening, (I'm more of a butter kind of girl!) so I love that this version uses oil and doesn't give you a totally flat cookie.  Plus, the oil is much less fussy to measure.  

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies {with Cream Cheese Frosting}

Printable Version

Ingredients:

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2 boxes devil’s food cake mix
4 eggs
¾ cup +1 tablespoon canola oil

For the frosting:
1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened (Neufchâtel cheese works great too!)
½ cup butter, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
3 cups powdered sugar (use less if you don’t like it as sweet)
Food coloring (optional)

Directions:

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Preheat oven to 350.  In a large mixing bowl (or mixing bowl of a stand mixer) combine cake mix, eggs, and oil.  Mix (using paddle attachment) until uniform and well combined.  Roll dough into ping-pong sized balls and place on parchment or silicone lined baking sheets.  Using the bottom of glass (or something else flat) press the cookies ever so slightly.  Bake for 8-10 minutes being careful not to overbake.  Allow to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  

For the frosting, beat all ingredients with an electric hand mixer until smooth and fluffy.  If you wish, you can transfer the frosting into a quart-size ziploc freezer bag and snip the corner off for fast and mess-free cookie assembly.     

When cookies are cooled completely, match them up by size and frost as desired.  Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.  

Notes:

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I use the cake mix that has pudding in the mix with great results.  It makes for extra-soft cookies.  You can change the amount of oil in the recipe anywhere from ⅔ cup to 1 cup depending on how thick you like your cookies.  Just keep in mind that you will be sandwiching 2 together, so you don’t want them too thick.  Also, if you want to make giant cookies, roll the balls bigger and add a few minutes to the baking time.