How to Make Your Own Fair Trade Oreos

Friends, these cookies will take you places. 

I've made them twice so far, and both times they get rave reviews. 

If you're wondering what to bring the next time you are invited for dinner or you're craving OREOS, this recipe will get you there. 

Let me preface the recipe by saying a few things:

This isn't a money saving recipe. Many of the recipes and posts on this blog will focus on eating healthy in a frugal way so we can make more room for what's good in this life. Y'all. These cookies are one of those things that's good. 

For starters, they are made from ingredients that come from practices that don't abuse children. (I know that sounds harsh, but it's the reality of why I'm so passionate about fair trade.) 

It's all real food- practically a health food, you could say (ha!). 

Consider them a gift when you make them; you can even allocate them as such in your budget. Truly, they're a gift to your hosts, to the people involved in creating the products that go into them, and to what you really want to be about in this world. 

The reason they are a bit pricey to make is that they use black cocoa, which is less common to find in a fair trade version. Don't skip this part- it is what gives the cookies that authentic "oreo" taste. 

I order black cocoa from Frontier Coop. It's the only place I've actually been able to find fair trade black cocoa. If you find it elsewhere, I'd love to hear! If you think it'll be worth the investment, you can pay an extra $10 to get 10% off every order and then a 5% rebate annually. This is a lifetime membership. 

Other ingredients you need and where I get the more specialized ingredients: 

butter or vegan alternative

powdered sugar- I prefer a fair trade version. I've seen it at King Sooper, Giant, and Whole Foods

baking soda

sea salt 

vanilla extract 

all purpose flour

sustainable palm shortening- I buy Nutiva brand. So far, I've spotted it at Giant and Whole Foods. 

A few helpful notes on these cookies:

-The icing recipe tends to cover about 2/3 of the cookie recipe for me. You can double it and just make a "double stuff" version or freeze 1/3 of the cookie dough for an easy treat in your future. 

-My sources tell me the cookie is spot on for the flavor of an original Oreo, but the icing tastes a little different (good, but different). You can mask some of this difference by adding a few drops of peppermint extract to the icing for peppermint Oreos (taste as you go- that stuff is strong!) or just make them as is- they still receive rave reviews. I'll be playing around with the icing recipe and will post when I get closer to the original. 

With all that said, you can find the recipe I used here. Please post any questions you have, and happy baking!