Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies with Rum Raisin Filling

When I first started baking, I worked at Hallmark. My coworkers really liked the things I made and I would sometimes take my cookbooks to work and my coworkers would bookmark the recipes that looked good. I liked when I was able to make the cookies that they requested, because most of the other time I was guessing as to what they would like or I’d just pick what I wanted.

I have a lot more cookbooks now, and I follow a lot of blogs that have great recipes. Sometimes I’m still stuck as to what I should make. I try to be in tune with holidays and that sort of thing. Right now, Girl Scouts are out there with their cookies. I have found a couple of copycat recipes that I really want to try, but they take more time than I usually have on a weeknight. My husband recently sent me a couple of recipes that he thought sounded good. So I had a lot of ideas coming my way.

This week a sent a couple of recipes to my colleagues and let them choose. They picked this recipe (well, it was basically a tie), which is one that my husband had sent me a couple of days ago. I’d make oatmeal sandwich cookies a while ago, but it’s the filling that is really special. The cookies themselves are pretty good; I like the oats in combination with the almond extract. The filling is ok by itself too, but when these are all together they are really wonderful. The filling I made was really thick, and next time I would thin it with some additional milk, but I wouldn’t change anything else.

1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups regular oats
3/4 cups chopped pecans

3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons dark rum
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1pound powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 375. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large mixer bowl, combine butter, shortening, corn syrup and brown sugar. Beat on medium until fluffy; add egg and almond extract and mix until blended. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and cloves and gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in oats and pecans.

Shape dough into small balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Press down on each ball to flatten slightly. Bake for 9-10 minutes until golden. Cool on baking sheet and then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Make the rum raisin filling: beat cream cheese in a mixer bowl until smooth. Add milk, rum, vanilla and salt and beat until blended. Don’t worry if the mixture look curdled. Slowly add powdered sugar, mixing on low until combined. If the mixture seems too stiff, add additional milk. Stir in raisins. Spread 2-3 tablespoons of filling on cookie bottom and sandwich with another cookie.

Recipe from Framed, My Life One Picture at a Time who got the recipe from Christmas with Southern Living