If you’re like me, you’ve made an Oreo cake before, only to be disappointed that the chocolate flavor tastes kind of… meh. Not bad, but just like a normal chocolate cake, nothing even remotely Oreo-like. Or wait. Maybe normal people don’t do that?

In case you’re normal, I’ll explain it to you: there are tons of “cookies and cream” recipes out there. Unfortunately, usually the only part of the recipe that resembles those famous chocolate cookies is the crumbles of chocolate cookies you mixed into the batter or frosting.

That’s OK, I guess, but it’s a lot less trouble just to eat a handful (or a bagful…I don’t judge) of cookies right out of the package. If I’m going to the trouble of making something, I want it to knock my socks off. I want the pan to be scraped clean. I want guests to ask for the recipe. You get the idea. The best part certainly should not be the part I could’ve eaten in the grocery store parking lot.

Enter these brownies. See, apparently Nabisco doesn’t use only typical cocoa powder in the Oreo. They use black cocoa, or at least something remarkably akin to it. That’s the secret behind both the black color of the cookies and the intense chocolatey flavor.

I thought I was the only weirdo who would care about this fact, but then I told two of my three sisters about black cocoa this weekend.

“Wait. What’s it called, again?”

“Where did you get it?”

“Is this the brand you got? King Arthur?”

Black cocoa. Amazon. Yes.

That’s how I discovered that I wasn’t the only person who really wanted to replicate the Oreo flavor at home.

The original recipe called for a typical American buttercream frosting with crushed Oreo cookies added to the mix. I don’t care for buttercream, and I definitely didn’t think it would pair well with a brownie.

So I substituted an ermine frosting instead. It’s much lighter: both less sweet and less greasy than buttercream. It is the recipe I use to fill cupcakes and similar to the one my mom used to use to cover red velvet cakes back in the ‘80s, before cream cheese frosting became the go-to for red velvet. The texture is a bit like a stabilized whipped cream, although there is no cream in it.

I’m not going to lie to you: ermine frosting is more time consuming to make than a typical buttercream. It also requires quite a lot of whipping, so I would not try to make it by hand.

However, the results are always worth the bit of extra work, in my opinion.

It knocked our socks off. The pan was scraped clean. The children clamored for more when the last one was eaten. Well, you get the idea.

OREO BROWNIES WITH CREAMY FROSTING

(adapted from Owl B Baking blog)

Ingredients
1 cup butter
2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup black cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
■ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a square brownie pan (8-by-8-inch or 9-by-9-inch pan) with oil or shortening, or line with parchment paper.
■ In a glass mixing bowl, heat the butter (one cup equals two sticks) until it is completely melted. This takes about 1 minute in my microwave. Stir in sugar and chocolate chips until the mixture is smooth. Let the butter mixture cool for a few minutes. (If you are in a hurry, mix a few spoons of the chocolate mixture into the butter mixture to bring up the temperature of the eggs before you add them to the mixing bowl.)
■ Add eggs and vanilla to the mixture. In a second mixing bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powders and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the melted chocolate mixture and mix by hand. Do not try to stir out every lump; stir just until no streaks of dry ingredients remain.
■ Pour the batter into the baking pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes. While the brownies bake, begin the creamy Oreo frosting.

CREAMY OREO FROSTING

(adapted from EmmyMade’s bumpy cake recipe)

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature (use the best quality of butter you can afford)
About 15 Oreo cookies, crushed

Directions
■ In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly.
■ Remove from heat and add vanilla. Allow the mixture to cool in a clean mixing bowl.
■ When the starch mixture is cool, add the butter to the starch mixture one tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition. Mix on high until mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (The mixture may look grainy or separated while you whip. Just keep whipping. It will come together.)
■ Add crushed cookies to the mixture and fold in gently. Top cooled brownies with icing and enjoy.

Amelia Plair is a mom and high school teacher in Starkville. Email reaches her at [email protected].

Amelia Plair is a Starkville resident who writes occasional food columns.