Happy Monday folks! Today, turned out to be a beautiful day. I had plans to get out and enjoy the sunshine and get in a water aerobics class; but fatigue set in and I just couldn’t muster up enough energy to leave the house. Instead, I made more headway on my packing, did some cleaning, and a bit of baking. Initially, I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood to bake so I perused my recipe archive looking for something simple yet different. I settled on cookies since they are easy enough but I literally have dozens of cookie recipes that I have archived over time. This could and sometimes does become a time consuming process. I finally set my sights on Oatmeal Creme Pies which I adapted from a recipe found over at Eating in Instead. These Oatmeal Creme Pies are pretty easy to whip up and are a bit decadent with a creamy vanilla filling sandwiched between two soft and chewy oatmeal cookies. The cookies are soft and chewy and not too sweet.

Of course, I adapted the recipe using my all purpose gluten free flour blend, substituting earth balance for butter and honey for the molasses and added 1 /4 cup of brown sugar. I used my go to brand of Bob’s Red Mill gluten free rolled oats and for the vanilla filling, my simple substitution for the heavy cream is found below:

Dairy Free Heavy Cream Substitute

2/3 cup canola or olive oil

1/3 cup rice or soy milk

Mix together as a substitute for heavy dairy cream. This cannot be used to make whipped cream.

Anyone looking for that nostalgic Little Debbie oatmeal creme pie should make this cookie. They give you that classic taste but since they are homemade there is none of that “other stuff” that you find in processed snacks.

I love the addition of fresh vanilla beans but I understand that most people do not keep a stock of vanilla bean pods lying around, so vanilla extract will do. These cookies are A+mazing and will certainly go into my regular cookie baking  rotation.

Oatmeal Creme Pies as found on Eating In Instead

Happy Baking,

the gluten free chef