Oatmeal Creme Pies

When I was a kid, I remember eating Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies. I loved them. But I never gave a second thought as to what they might be made of. I'm older and wiser now. The ingredient list on those Little Debbie snacks is longer than my to-do-list at holiday time. The first ingredient listed on the label is corn syrup, then there are partially hydrogenated oils, TBHQ, artificial flavors, interesterfied palm oil (what?) and artificial colors. Why do you need to color a cookie with red and yellow food coloring? I get a perfectly brown oatmeal cookie without any of those. So compare these ingredients to the ingredients below. You can simply feel better about eating these once in a while and you'll think twice before buying anything from that "snack cake" aisle in the grocery store.

I baked half the batter into plain oatmeal cookies and filled them with vanilla cream filling. The cream filling makes them a fairly sweet treat. You'll have to come back tomorrow to see what I did with the other half of the dough. Could it be even better then these?
Oatmeal Creme Pies

For the oatmeal cookies:
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats (I used the regular oats instead of the quick)

Preheat oven to 375°.

Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, beating well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a bowl, stirring well. Add oats; stir well. Add to butter mixture; stir until well blended. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

Spread 1 tablespoon Cream Filling over each bottom side of half of cookies; top with remaining cookies, right side up.
for the Creme Filling:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, scraping bowl. Beat on high until light and fluffy.