Peanut Butter Oreos

Every fall, my graduate department hosts a "Welcome Back" party of some sort--held at a local park and potluck style. Although attendants are encouraged to bring something homemade, frequently we wind up with people who stop at the store on their way over and bring some sort of chips and dip, or something sweet. This year, more than last, these functions seem to see more of the name brand (or generic, sometimes) packaged goods, rather than the items made in store.

I find this unfortunate on many levels. The stores here are all small chains or employee owned. The bakeries are of varying quality, as are the delis, but in my mind, any of these stores will offer a higher quality product than something meant to be shelf stable for months, years...you get the picture.

Anyway, at this year's picnic, someone brought peanut butter oreos. Why not? I thought to myself. I would never purposely buy them--I only buy regular oreos when I plan to make oreo bon-bons--and they are one of the dozens of flavors of traditional-style oreos Nabisco has produced. We won't talk about the "cakesters" aside from my comment that someone finally figured out how to market "whoopie pies" mixed with stale oreos.

I grabbed a couple at the end of the picnic and gave them a try. The peanut butter cream is less creamy than a traditional oreo and for a "Double Stuf," they don't have all that much filling. In fact, the peanut butter doesn't even taste particularly peanut-buttery. It's got a hint of peanut and a hint of grittyness like a certain off-brand of Oreo, but it by no means screams "peanut butter!"

Okay, so the dilemna. I had more than one oreo--but not enough to really incorporate into a real recipe. What to do with them? I'm a grad student so I make an effort not to throw anything away as far as food goes--if I can salvage it, that is. So, I crumbled my remaining Oreos and tossed them in the DQ Blizzard I'd gotten for almost free, thanks to a coupon. Fortuntaely, my Blizzard had both Reeses and chocolate fudge in it, making up for the lacking quality of the Oreos. Given an option again, I'd pass.