A Piping Bag Is Your Best Friend When Making Copycat Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies

As the first snack cake sold under the Little Debbie name, Oatmeal Creme Pies are likely here to stay. Still, after the uproar caused by the company's 2017 "one gotta go" tweet that led many to believe one of the brand's beloved desserts was getting the axe, we don't blame anyone for wanting to be mentally prepared. As such, fans of Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies may want to consider having a copycat recipe on hand — you know, just in case. For that, Mashed recipe developer Molly Allen has you covered.

Allen's copycat oatmeal cream pie recipe transforms a few standard baking ingredients into the soft, chewy oatmeal cookies folks know and love. She then covers one cookie in a thick layer of vanilla frosting before placing another on top. To effectively replicate her creation, you'll want to load your frosting into a piping bag ahead of assembly. Although Allen notes that a spatula could do the job, she tells Mashed that the pastry-making tool ultimately "make[s] the process simpler." Using a piping bag not only gives you greater control over the frosting's placement and thickness, it also prevents you from accidentally squishing or breaking the cookies, which could occur if you apply too much pressure with a spatula.

Assembling your copycat oatmeal cream pies right after your cookies come out of the oven might be hard to resist; however, as Molly Allen explains, the cookies should first sit on the hot baking sheet for a few minutes. This will give them the delightfully-chewy center that's such an important part of this treat. (You're not assembling them after this step, either, so put that piping bag down.) After the cookies do some post-oven baking on the metal sheet, transfer them to a wire cooling rack, and don't touch them again until they're "fully cooled," as Allen advises — this way, the frosting won't melt upon impact. Remember, you want a thick, fluffy cream filling, not a thin glaze.

When the time to assemble your copycat oatmeal cream pies does come, a round-tip icing nozzle is your best bet. Make sure you don't overfill the pastry bag, and while you're at it, avoid overloading your snack cakes, too. Instead of covering the entire cookie with a layer of frosting, leave about a quarter-inch blank around the treat's edge. That way, icing won't ooze out of the sides when you press the second cookie on top.