Everyone should know where his or her food comes from, what's in it and what it takes to put it on the table, so I think everybody should have a few basic cooking or baking skills.🙂 Often homemade is healthier as you use better ingridients. That said, life is a balance. Who wants to spend all their time in the kitchen? So how do I decide between homemade or readymade?If I can't make food, better, healthier, or cheaper, I buy it readymade. Oreos are one of my favorite store-bought cookies. I can't make them better than Nabisco Cadbury Milka, their manufacturer ... and not much cheaper either.
Moreover, are cookies ever healthy? Really ... truly?! It's the sugar that's so bad for us ... as well as, eating too many cookies! So Oreos are a cookie I buy and never bake at home. BTW, if you can find the same crispy chocolate sandwich cookie manufactured by Hydrox, the original inventor of the recipe in your supermarket, buy them. As tasty as Oreos, Hydrox -- the 1st retailer to make them -- deserves your patronage!
Despite never making the chocolate sandwich biscuit myself, I'm curious to know what's in my favorite, sooo delicious, store-bought cookie. Let's turn to a professional baking company for a copycat recipe:
Faux-Reos by King Arthur
Ingredients for the cookie:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 large egg
1 tablespoon cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup good quality cocoa
Directions for the cookie:
1) In a mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, salt, and espresso powder.
2) Beat in the egg, water, and vanilla. Next add the flour and cocoa (to get a stiff dough with no leavening agent, so do not worry about either).
3) Roll the dough into 2 teaspoon-size balls (the weight of a chestnut).
4) Place the balls on a greased, or parchment paper prepared cookie sheet, leaving 1 1/2'' - 2'' apart.
5) Flatten each cookie to about 1/8" with your fingers or a glass bottom dipped in cocoa.
6) Bake the cookies for 18 - 20 minutes and watch them closely to get a crispy-without-scorched cookie. When just right, remove them from the oven and cool completely.
Ingredients for the filling:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cold water
Directions for the filling:
1) Beat together the sugar, shortening, and vanilla.
2) Add the water and continue to beat until smooth and spreadable.
3) Place 1 tablespoon of filling in-between 2 crispy cookies and squeeze to flatten.
Oh, what a lot of sugar, no wonder they're so tasty! Frankly, unless Oreos and Hydrox cookies both disappear from supermarket shelves, I don't plan to make them. Yet seeing the recipe is an education, isn't it ... and I'll hold onto the Faux-Reos recipe to make at home should the day arrive of empty supermarket shelves.
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Here's another easy King Arthur recipe I will make:
No-Bake Energy Bites
Ingredients:
3/4 cup any nut butter (I'll use peanut butter)
1 cup of rolled oats
1/3 cup of honey
1/3 cup of dried whole milk (I'll use dried skim milk ... all I ever buy and doubt with powdered milk, it makes much of a difference in taste. What am I ... a supermarket?🙂)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Select:
2 cups of mix-ins - such as mini chocolate chips, coconut flakes, chopped nuts, dried fruits or seeds, crushed candies (unhealthy), 1 tablespoon chia or poppy seeds (healthy) -- or whatever you like.
Directions:
1) In a mixing bowl, combine the 1st 5 main ingredients.
2) Next add 2 cups of whatever mix-ins you like.
3) Use your hands to mix and get the right consistency. Add more oats if too sticky, add a tad more honey if too dry.
3) Form into 1 tablespoon-size balls. Place on a cookie sheet. Wait at least 20 minutes for them to rest and firm up before eating.
Obviously, the Energy Bites are healthier than Oreo cookies, but sometimes you need an Oreo; and we all must practice moderation. Alas, staying healthy always comes down to portion control! I rarely eat more than 3 Oreos, yet rarely eat less than 3.🙂
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