Homemade Oreos

Thomas Keller's Oreos

White and dark chocolate filled cocoa cookies: the sophisticated Oreo.  The first bite of these cookies sends you traveling back to a stress-free time with flavors of the salty cookie and sweet chocolate filling. It is the ultimate balance.  It's like the cookie goes inside your brain and pushes the nostalgia button.  Yeah, it's that good.

Thomas Keller's Oreos
from The Essence of Chocolate, by Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger

3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus 3 tablespoons
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa plus 1 tablespoon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
15 tablespoons (7 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 3/4-inch cubes, at room temperature

Filling
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 oz white chocolate, finely chopped
2 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped

To make the filling: In a small saucepan, bring the 1/3 cup of cream to a boil over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add the white chocolate, making sure it is all immersed in the cream. Let stand for 1 minute then whisk to completely melt the chocolate and incorporate it.

Transfer the filling to a small bowl and let it stand for 6 hours, or until it thickens enough to spread. If the filling hardens too much, it can be rewarmed in the microwave.  Repeat the same steps for the dark chocolate filling with the remaining cream.

To make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt on low speed until combined. With the mixer still on low speed, add the butter a few pieces at a time until it is all in the bowl. The dough will be sandy at first, but it will eventually begin to come together. When it does, stop the mixer.

Transfer the dough to a work surface and form it into a block about 5 by 7 inches. Cut the block into 2 pieces. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough on a lightly floured work surface until it is 1/8-inch thick. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut rounds from the dough and place them 1/2 to 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. You can reroll the scraps of dough once to cut more cookies.

Bake for 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the cookies cool on them for 5 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let the cookies cool completely.

To assemble the cookies: Turn half of the cookies over so the side that was down on the baking sheet faces up. Whisk the filling briefly to fluff it up. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag and cut a small hole in the tip of the bag. Pipe about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the white chocolate filling in the center of each cookie you flipped over. Top with another cookie, which is filled with the dark chocolate filling and gently press the cookies together until the filling spreads evenly to the edge. The cookies keep in an airtight container for 3 days.

Makes about 24 sandwich cookies