Oreos

When I saw these "oreos" on Lovestoeat (what a great name! I concur with that thought!) I wanted to try them, but didn't want to make them at home because I eat way too many of things I make for just the two of us! It's almost spring break, so I am sending my kids off with "oreos", along with the recipe. Maybe they'll try them over break?
I colored them green for St. Patty's day, since it is over break! I made about 1/3 of them mint, and I loved the mint ones--just a few drops of peppermint extract did the trick! The cookies are actually crunchy too, which I was really surprised about for some reason!
The original source is the Food Network magazine.

Oreos

Ingredients:
Dough:
1 1/3 c Dutch processed cocoa powder (or regular cocoa powder)
1 ½ c all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¼ t salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla

Filling:
1 stick unsalted butter
½ c regular flavored vegetable shortening
3 c sifted powdered sugar
1 t vanilla extract

Directions:
Sift together cocoa, flour, and salt.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Once creamed, add each egg, mixing well before adding the next egg. Once incorporated, add vanilla. Mix well.
Add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated, scraping the bottom of the bowl to get all the dry ingredients incorporated.
Divide the dough into 2 pieces and place one between two sheets of lightly floured waxed paper or parchment paper. Roll out to ¼ inch thick. Do the same with the other half of the dour. Chill both sheets for 1 hour up to several days.
Using a 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out the dough into 64 circles. Reroll the scraps once if needed. Place the cookies on a sheet about 2 inches apart and chill for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
Bake cookies until they are set and slightly darker around the edges. This should take around 20 minutes. Cool completely.
Prepare the filling. In a mixer, cream the butter and shortening until fluffy. Beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla.
Top half of the cookies (upside down) with filling. Top with the other cookies to make sandwiches. Only use about a T of filling for each cookie.
Makes 32 sandwich cookies.

**Add in mint extract and green food coloring to make mint oreos!