Oreo Cream Pie

Renée’s Oreo Cream Pie

Hello again, dear readers! Please allow me to apologize for the extended absence. Unfortunately, things happen in life that may cause us to lose any desire to do what we love to do. Through the gentle urgings of friends and loved ones, I have finally made it back into the kitchen to do some of my own cooking. Thank you to everyone who has helped me get back to this point – you know who you are and I consider myself blessed to have you in my life.

Now that the sentimental part is over, let me return to entertaining you with my celebration of all things Oreo. You may remember that I have a Romeo and Juliet style love affair with Oreos. We are definitely starcrossed lovers considering I am trying to lose weight and Oreos really don’t aid in that endeavor. However, we all deserve to treat ourselves from time to time since otherwise our junk food cravings would increase exponentially.

Summer has finally arrived and it brought temperatures in the high 90s and humidity to match. That means no indoor cooking and definitely no baking. I am NOT turning on the oven in a house with no air conditioning. While ice cream is delectable and oh so enticing during the summer months, there are other treats worth savoring…such as NO-BAKE desserts.

You may be familiar with the Jell-O No-Bake Oreo pie which is pretty good but…meh it’s just so BOXED. What could I do to make it better than boxed? Apart from not using it. My birthday passed recently and my mother was going to try and make a homemade version of The Cheesecake Factory’s Italian Cream Pie – which they no longer sell. (I’m incredibly sad that they don’t.) In any case, between two layers of vanilla cake is a thick layer of lemon mascarpone…mmmmmmmm! Due to scheduling conflicts, I didn’t get a birthday cake. I did get a birthday cupcake and a cheesecake so no worries.

So we have this mascarpone in the fridge. If you aren’t familiar with it, mascarpone is a sweet Italian cream cheese. It’s relatively expensive since it’s usually imported. I have yet to see a domestic mascarpone. It is one of the most deliciously decadent cream cheeses I have ever had with a slightly vanilla taste to it reminiscent of a very lightly sweetened whipped cream but much thicker.

I decided to make an Oreo something with it. (Can you really expect anything less?)

My Oreo Cream Pie

Oreo pie crust – just buy it at the store and save yourself some time and energy.

Double-stuf Oreos – you’ll be needing 20

8oz mascarpone

8oz Cool-Whip

¼ cup sugar

Mini Oreos for garnish

*If you can’t find mascarpone or if you don’t want to shell out the money for it you can substitute cream cheese just be sure to add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the filling mixture. If it’s a little tangy, consider adding more sugar but do it slowly and taste as you go. You don’t want it to be sickeningly sweet.

Instructions

Get out your Oreos. 10 of them need to be crushed into pieces. The other 10 need to have that wonderful STUF in the middle removed. You’re going to put the STUF in the filling mixture. Scrape the STUF into a bowl and then reserve the cookie halves.

In the same bowl as the STUF, whip the mascarpone and sugar together until there are no more lumps. Add the Cool-Whip and stir by hand if you used a mixer previously. At this point add your CRUSHED Oreos and combine.

Once you’re satisfied with your filling, take out your Oreo crust and fill with the mixture. At this point, I took the cookie halves and crushed them into a fine powder (I put them in a bag and  then took the meat mallet to them) and then dusted the top of the pie.

I assure you it will be tough to resist but do not eat right away. Put the pie in the fridge and let it set. The Oreo pieces are going to soften and come close to a velvety texture. It’s simply incredible.

You can serve this with mini Oreos as a garnish because they’re just so cute. :) Technically, I shouldn’t eat dairy but I make an exception for Oreos because for whatever reason, they’re so much better with some kind of milk product.