Salted Caramel, Oatmeal Cookie Whoopie Pies

To say these are incredible is an understatement.

I stumbled upon this recipe, fell in love. Tweaked it a few times and have baked these at least 6 times in the last year. I honestly cannot remember it's original source but know that I customized the cookie recipe from Joy of Cooking, the buttercream I make from memory every time and the caramel I consulted several recipes online.

Teacher appreciation day is Tuesday and we are celebrating our Daycare teachers all throughout this next week. Naturally, I signed up to bake something and making these has been my go-to, no brainer, indulgent treat.

Each batch basically contains an entire box of butter, so these are not for the faint of heart. Literally. Now, go put on your stretch pants and get baking.

Preheat Oven: 350F

Cookie:

3 cup rolled oats

1 ½ cup all purpose flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp baking soda

2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter (room temperature) 

1 cup of packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs (I use Bob's Redmill Egg Replacer)

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together on medium until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add the egg (substitute) and vanilla and beat to combine. Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just combined.

How many times am I going to photograph the inside of my Kitchen Aid? Haha But, this is a good representation of what it looks like when you cream your butter and sugars together. Light and fluffy!

Now, I don't chill my dough before baking. Doing this DOES help the cookies not spread as much. For this purpose I like them spreading out a bit because it makes them better "sandwich cookies". 

Scoop the dough onto baking sheets, and bake 1 sheet at a time for 11-14 minutes depending on oven, especially convection vs non convection cooking. Convection cooks faster and should be closer to the 11 minute mark. The cookies will be a VERY light shade of brown, almost tan. They firm up as they cool and will be chewy and awesome. Remove after a minute or two to continue cooling on cooling racks.

This ice cream scooper is perfect for cookie and muffin batter. This really helps me get relatively uniform sizes. I cannot recommend these enough, I have two size scoopers and I use them all the time. (Thanks, Mom!) Also, please note their pale color. These are done, I promise. Don't burn your cookies.

Cream Filling:

1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter softened to room temp

*1 block of cream cheese softened to room temp

2-3 tsp of vanilla extract

¾ cup powdered sugar

Beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla together until light and fluffy-add the powdered sugar gradually, blend until smooth.

*I don't always use the butter/cream cheese combo. Sometimes I just make a straight buttercream, but I do like the combination. Whatever your preference is fine.

Caramel Sauce:

1 cup white sugar

5 tbsp butter

1 cup heavy cream

Add sugar to medium saucepan and begin heating over low heat. As the sugar starts to turn amber at the edges/melt-stir with a METAL* spoon. Must use metal.Keep stirring until all the sugar is melted and an amber color. Add in butter, keep stirring until smooth and incorporated. Turn heat all the way down and SLOWLY add the heavy cream. It will sputter, keep stirring and adjusting heat to avoid crystalizing the sugar again. Once all combined and smooth, pour into a Mason jar to cool. Be careful what glass you choose if you don’t have a Mason jar, the heat difference can shatter everyday glass.

*you bet your bum I used a plastic/resin spoon the first time I ever made this. RIP spoon AND I had to start over, because you know...consuming plastic isn't a good idea.

When composing the cookies just line up similar size tops and bottoms. Spread an even layer of buttercream, drizzle caramel and then add the TINIEST pinch of course grain sea salt to each sandwich. Trust me on the salt, a little goes an extremely long way. You've been warned..

So there you have it. Enjoy and share these buttery bombs of yumminess.