Phenomenal Phoods

Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches

Ingredients:

For the oatmeal cookies

• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups old fashioned oats

For the buttercream

• 1 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 - 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
• 1-2 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 cup pureed mango
• 1/4 cup pureed raspberries
• 1/4 cup pureed blueberries
• 1-2 teaspoons matcha powder
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• Yellow and blue food coloring

Instructions:

For the oatmeal cookies

1. Start by creaming together the softened butter, sugar and brown sugar with a mixer until smooth, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and mix for another minute.
3. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and oats, mixing just until combined.
4. Scoop the dough using a 2 ounce cookie scoop onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand. Put the pan in the freezer for 10-15 minutes while you heat the oven to 350 degrees F. This will chill the butter and prevent the cookies from spreading out too much when baking.
5. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and place cookie dough a couple of inches apart on the trays. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 8-10 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown. Let them cool completely before filling with buttercream.

For the buttercream

1. Start by making a vanilla buttercream. Use a mixer with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer) to beat the softened butter until smooth and creamy, a couple of minutes. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar, the vanilla bean paste and 1 tablespoon of milk, mixing until smooth. You want to have a very stiff buttercream at this point. If it's too soft, add some more powdered sugar.
2. Divide the buttercream evenly into 6 small dishes.
3. For the red, orange and purple colors, add the pureed raspberries, mango and blueberries to 3 separate dishes. Stir until smooth. If it is too runny at this point, add a little more powdered sugar.
4. For the green, add 1-2 teaspoons of matcha powder until you get the color you want. Add an extra teaspoon of milk as well and stir until smooth.
5. For the yellow, add the lemon zest and juice as well as a drop or 2 of yellow food coloring and stir until smooth.
6. For the blue, keep it vanilla and just add a few drops of blue food coloring.
7. Fill cooled oatmeal cookies with a heap of buttercream. This recipe makes 12 sandwiches so I had 2 of each color.