12 Days of Holiday Cookies: Golden Oat Milk Creme Pies

Little Debbie’s oatmeal creme pies were my favorite sandwich cookies in childhood. That chewy-tender cookie sandwiching a softer-than-Oreo-filling “creme” was irresistible any time I passed a vending machine selling them.

To make my L.A. ode to those perfect cookies, and make them feel holiday appropriate, I flavor them with warm, winter spices often used in turmeric lattes, or “golden milk”: turmeric and ginger mixed with floral cardamom and heady black pepper. The spice mix, when combined with oat flour — conveniently trendy and more common in grocery stores today — tastes like those lattes when made with oat milk, a coffee shop milk alternative now ubiquitous in L.A. that adds its distinct taste to the creme filling. These sandwich cookies have a slightly fluffier chew than the old creme pies and a striking gold hue that makes them perfect for the holidays. If you can’t find oat flour (look for it where all the Bob’s Red Mill products are), you can make your own by blitzing quick-cooking rolled oats to a powder in a food processor.

Food

12 Days of Holiday Cookies

Our first annual collection of 12 L.A.-inspired holiday cookies.

Golden Oat Milk Creme Pies

45 minutes. Makes 18 cookie sandwiches.

Turmeric lattes made with oat milk meet old-fashioned oatmeal creme pies in these tender, spiced cookies sandwiched with oat milk-enriched buttercream frosting.

(Leslie Grow / For The Times)

Ingredients
Dough:

• 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (8 ½ ounces; see Baker’s Note)
• 1 cup oat flour (5 ounces; see note above)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ¾ cup packed coconut palm sugar or dark brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

Filling:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted (1 pound)
• ¼ cup oat, cashew or almond milk, or whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours and cornstarch. In a large bowl, combine both sugars, butter, shortening, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and black pepper and beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes (see Baker’s Note). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition, until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined.
3. Using a 1-ounce ice cream scoop or 2 even tablespoons, drop mounds of dough 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
4. Bake, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through, until the cookies are barely set and lightly browned at the edges, about 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 1 minute, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough to make more cookies.
5. Make the filling: Place the butter in a large bowl and beat on medium speed of a mixer until smooth. Spoon the powdered sugar into the butter and beat on low speed until combined. Pour in the oat milk, vanilla and salt and beat on low speed until smooth, scrape the bowl and paddle, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
6. Transfer the filling to a piping bag or plastic bag and snip off the tip. Pipe 2 tablespoons filling onto the bottom half of the cookies, then sandwich them with the other halves.

Make ahead: The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Baker’s note: When measuring flour or powdered sugar, spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the excess. Scooping compacts the ingredients, resulting in dry baked goods. And if using a stand mixer, use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl and the paddle after beating the butter and sugar together and after the dough is mixed to ensure the ingredients are evenly mixed throughout.