Cookies and Cream Cookies

Late August is an awkward time in the baking blogosphere - it's a little too late for refreshing summery treats and definitely too depressing to start baking with pumpkin and apples quite yet. So today we're going for what I consider a delicious, timeless classic - Cookies and Creams Cookies. Timeless because they're essentially season-less, classic in that apparently Oreo's are America's favorite cookie (I'm not arguing there), and delicious because it's freakin' Oreo's mixed into a chocolate chip cookie base, what more can I say?!

Sometimes there's just no time for elaborate layer cakes or fancy jello shots. Sometimes I just want to throw together some ingredients, bake them for a few minutes, and have delicious treats with minimal effort. I love cookies and cream anything, probably because of my love affair with Oreo's, so when I saw this idea to bake broken up Oreo's into chocolate chip cookies, I was all over it. I needed something to bring to a housewarming party and I knew this would definitely be a crowd-pleaser. I was right - they went quickly and received rave reviews. It was hard for me not to keep repeating - "But they were so easy to make!" It's great to have a few recipes on hand that you can whip up with ingredients you probably already have in minimal time. The big plus for these is the dough doesn't need to spend a night chilling in the fridge like many cookie recipes. So really, what I'm trying to say here is there's no reason you shouldn't turn off your computer right now and start baking these immediately...

Cookies and Cream Cookies

Recipe adapted from Lovin in the Oven

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

6 tbsp sugar

6 tbsp brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1-1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 Oreo's, broken up into small pieces

- Preheat the over to 350 degrees.

- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).

- Add egg and vanilla and beat until well mixed.

- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

- With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.

- Gently fold in Oreo pieces.

- With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 1-2" apart.

- Bake for 8-10 minutes*, until the edges JUST start to brown. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Recipe yields about 30 cookies.

*I baked my cookies a minute or two longer than I should of (more on the 10 min side of the range), so if you watch yours more carefully than I did, they should be even more "cookies and cream" colored and less golden brown!