Growing up, our parents didn’t buy us many prepackaged treats. Fruit by the foot, gogurt, dunkaroos…we never had those. I still remember going to a friend’s house that had MULTIPLE flavors of goldfish crackers and pringles. Another friend had an entire closet in the basement filled with costco sized packs of fruit snacks and gushers. It seemed like heaven.

My parents reading this will probably tell you we had plenty of other snacks and desserts, but my sister Cassie and I always wanted those popular, trendy treats we saw on tv commercials and in other kids’ lunch boxes. Life just isn’t fair when you’re a kid! One of the few snacks we did always have on hand though was pop tarts. We usually had the normal varieties, like blueberry or cinnamon sugar, but in the spring of 2000…we got the cookies and cream kind. I remember this because we always wanted those exciting cereals like Cookie Crisp or Oreo O’s, but they were more expensive so we never got them. So when pop tarts started making cookies & cream flavor, you know we were all over them!

Another factor in this pop tart obsession was a complete kitchen remodel. I don’t remember any of the remodeling being done, I just remember we only had a microwave and that was enough for our pop tarts. There was a little nook at the top of the stairs, and Cassie and I would sit up there for hours playing Oregon Trail on the computer with our beanie babies, heating up cookies and cream pop tarts in the microwave. 

Making these pop tarts is easy enough, they just require a little assembly time. I used our homemade pie crust and added some cocoa powder to make it chocolate (use the good stuff, it will make a stronger chocolate flavor!), then stuffed them with cream cheese and crushed oreos. It doesn’t get much better than that! These surprisingly were not overly sweet however, so I left a few notes in the ingredients if you want to adjust these for your sweet tooth.

I highly recommend warming these up before eating (turns out 12 year old me was onto something with the microwave > toaster decision) or even easier…just eat while still warm from the oven.

~Stephanie

Don’t forget to enter the #Choctoberfest giveaway! And see the end of this post for all the other decadent chocolate recipes posted today.

Cookies & Cream Oreo Pop Tarts

Crust

• 4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder (high quality for better flavor)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar (increase to 1/2 cup for sweeter crust)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cup shortening
• ~1 cup ice water (I put water in the freezer while I get my other ingredients ready. Amount varies, usually ends up around 1/2-1 cup)

Filling

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar (can increase to 1 cup for sweeter filling)
• 1 cup crushed oreos (~8)

Icing

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup crushed oreos (~8)

1. To make crust: in a medium sized bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Break the shortening into pieces using your hands, slowly incorporating it into the flour mixture. Shortening will begin to break down, but make sure you leave chunks.
2. Add water a little at a time, mixing gently with hands. Continue to add water until dough sticks together and can form a ball. Refrigerate until needed.
3. To make filling: in a small bowl, use electric beaters to whip cream cheese and powdered sugar together until combined completely. Mix in crushed oreos. Set aside.
4. Assemble pop tarts: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove pie dough from refrigerator. Roll out on a well floured surface to 1/8-1/4 inch thick (you don’t want too thick, or else your tarts will be all crust and no filling).
5. Cut into 3×5 inch rectangles. Roll the extra dough out again and continue cutting out rectangles until all dough is used.
6. Lay half the rectangles out on two cookie sheets. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of filling onto these rectangles. Spread filling out evenly, leaving 1/4 inch on each edge.
7. Place the other half of the rectangles over the filled ones. Press all along the edges to seal (you don’t want any leaks!) and use the tines of a fork to gently press the edges even closer together. Poke the tops of the pop tarts with the fork several times to vent.
8. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until edges are firm and middles are set. Let cool on wire rack.
9. To make icing: in small bowl, whisk together all icing ingredients except the oreos. If icing feels too thin, add more sugar. If too thick, add just a tiny bit more milk. Spoon or frost the icing over cooled pop tarts (if they are too warm, the icing will slide right off). Immediately sprinkle crushed oreos over the icing while still wet.
10. Enjoy immediately or store in air tight container for 3-4 days.