oreo wafer

When I first designed the Oreo cookie clone recipe for the second
book, More Top Secret Recipes, I decided that a cake mix would
suit the recipe best. However, the variety and brand I chose --
Duncan Hines Dark Dutch Fudge -- became unavailable in many parts
of the country. Now, for all of my faithful readers, it is time
to fix that problem with a cake mix that should be available
everywhere. Many of the ingredients have changed to create an even
more tender, chocolatey cookie that can be the same color as the
real thing if you decide to add some brown paste food coloring.
You will also note that the method has been improved to create
cookies that are more uniform in size by using a spice bottle
lid on the thinly rolled out dough. This will allow you to make
your wafers faster, and they will all be the same size. The
filling recipe remains the same, and can be found on page 68 of
More Top Secret Recipes. For those of you who don't have the book
(and, of course, for those who do), tune in next week for a
brand-new recipe that requires these wafers. (Hint: T.M.)

1 18.25-ounce pkg. Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
3 tablespoons shortening, melted
1/2 cup cake flour, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons brown paste food coloring (optional)*

1. Combine the cookie ingredients in a large bowl. Add the water
a little bit at a time until the dough forms. Cover and chill
for 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. On a lightly floured surface roll out a portion of the dough
to just under one 16th of an inch thick. To cut, use a lid from
a spice container with a 1 1/2-inch diameter (Schilling brand is
good). Arrange the cut dough rounds on a cookie sheet that is
sprayed with a light coating of non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove wafers from the oven and cool completely.
4. As the cookies bake, make the filling (recipe in More Top Secret
Recipes on page 68).
5. When the cookies have cooled, roll a small portion (heaping 1/4
teaspoon) of the filling into a ball (just over 1/4-inch in diameter),
and press it between two of the cookies. Repeat with the remaining
cookies. Makes 108-116 wafers; for 54-58 sandwich cookies.

*This is an optional step to help recreate the color of the original
cookie. If you do not use the paste food coloring be sure to change
the amount of water added to the wafer cookies from 3 tablespoons to
1/4 cup. The food coloring gives the cookies the dark brown, almost
black color. The coloring can be found with cake decorating supplies
at art supply and craft stores.

Tidbits
If the dough seems too tacky, you can work in as much as 1/4 cup of
flour as you pat out and roll the dough. Use just enough flour to make
the dough workable, but not tough.