Oreo Pops

I did a major overhaul of our inbox of submissions the other day. I categorized, deleted bogus emails, found duplicates, and made it easier to search through. In all of that I discovered 7 submission all on the same thing. How did we miss that?! When you have 6 submission about the same project failing, you know something is up.

The Original Pins

http://easybaked.net/2012/02/17/easy-oreo-pops/

http://www.maryjanesandgaloshes.com/2010/12/oreos-on-stick.html

http://www.makoodle.com/patriotic-oreo-pops/

http://www.theidearoom.net/2011/09/minnie-mouse-oreo-pops.html

They look delicious! I love Oreos. In fact, I was in a club dedicated to eating Oreos in college. Flub of Cork. Best club ever. I think every city should have a Flub of Cork chapter. The idea of an Oreo pop is just genius. Chocolate and oreos? Mmmm. Bite the top off, dip it in milk...oh that sounds heavenly. Our submitters thought the same thing, but their finished products didn't quite meet their expectations.

The Pinstrosities

Susan's experience went like this: "I did 2 things wrong.  First, I assumed everything I needed to know was included in the caption.  FAIL.  Second, I ignored the fact that the picture plainly shows POPSICLE STICK, not lollipop stick as the caption reads.  The attached pictures of Oreo carnage is our attempt.  We bought lollipop sticks from Michael's, mini and regular Oreos and almond bark.  I started the chocolate melting while my husband tried to put together the pops.  He immediately began sighing loudly and cursing under his breath.  When I looked over he had already broken almost a whole sleeve of Oreos.  Certain he was doing it wrong, I took over and proceeded to crush another whole sleeve.  The problems?  First, lollipop sticks are thicker than popsicle sticks which broke the Oreos in 2 when you try to cram them up there.  Second, the mini oreos don't fit inside the regular oreos, you're supposed to use double stuff.  I ran to the store while my husband tried to keep the chocolate from burning and the almost-2-year-old from going into an Oreo induced coma.  I returned with what was surely going to fix the problem, but alas, it was no help.  We did end up kinda sorta making it work by splitting the Oreos in two, using a skewer to carve out a groove for the stick and wells for the ears.  Dipped both ears and sticks in chocolate before placing them and used more chocolate on the cookie topper as glue.  Once it dried in place, we began to dunk them, but the weight was too great and they mostly fell apart.  When I finally set down to read the instructions I found that you're supposed to spoon the chocolate on........things that would have been nice to know YESTERDAY!  All in all, they'll do for a 2 year old's party, but I'm not winning mommy of the year for this 

Pinstrosity!"

Angela tells us, "I only ever saw the picture, but I figured how hard could it be? I used double-stuffed oreos and  I used red chocolate coating, the kind you can buy from Hobby Lobby. And out of the 10 cookies I attempted, only 2 came out. The others kept breaking! I could not get them to stay together. Between that and my girls trying to lick all the red chocolate, it was safe to say this project was a disaster. Hope you all can get a chuckle out of this :)"

Jamey said, "We tried making these cute pops for a company picnic. They were an epic fail. The cookies kept breaking, the sticks kept falling out and the coating was so thick it just clumped on the sides. Only after I falled I went thru the comments and saw to use double stuffs. Also didn't take the time to dot the insides with a bit of coating. GCT fail scale is 3 because they were still yummy even if un-presentable in public!" 

Cristi said all was going well. The sticks went into the Oreos great, but when she went to dip the cookies in chocolate, "The cookies started falling apart .. I think it was from the heat of the chocolate."

Roxy says, "Operation Oreo-Pop started when I discovered these adorable and seemingly simple treats on Pintrest while I was searching for a desert to take to a baby shower. First off, the pop sticks I purchased from Michaels were too big for the Oreos (I even used Double Stuffed) and they made the Cookie part of the Oreo separate from the white middle part. I tried to mash them together to re-stick, which seemed to work... Until I went to dip it in the white chocolate...disaster. About that white chocolate. As I was melting the chips, the chocolate seized up and became hard and crumbly. Not really knowing what to do to make it creamy again, I added milk and reheated it stirring constantly. The addition of the milk I guess was not a good idea, seeing as how it went from white to yellow, and crumbly to runny. Still, I ventured on. With hope, I dipped my first pop only to have the cookie totally fall off the pop stick. I tried to recover from my mistake and put the soggy cookie back together. Then I just had to admit to myself that my poor pops looked like poop. I definitely could not present this to a pregnant woman!"

Marty, on her blog, said, "I like pretty food. I really like food that taste good and is pretty. And if it's a dessert that taste good and is pretty I'm all over it. So when I came across this pin for oreo pops I was thrilled. Seriously, it's oreos dipped in chocolate on a stick. Not much tastier or cuter than that. And she makes a point of mentioning her three year old helping out so it must be simple right?"

"Yeah, not so much. Do I feel slightly ridiculous because, it seems, that even a three year old can shove an oreo onto a stick and dip it in chocolate and apparently I cannot? Yep. But am I hiding this character flaw? Nope. I'm gonna put it all out there because that's what I do. I'm just keeping it real."

"I tried seven times. And I ended up with two actually dipped in chocolate with sprinkles and on a stick. And they of course fell apart the moment I tried to pick them up. It wasn't pretty. Clumps of oreo were falling into my smooth-and-creamy-perfectly-melted-in-a-crock-pot-chocolate."

http://www.whatmartysees.com/2012/10/pinterest-test-kitchen-fail.html

http://www.whatmartysees.com/2012/10/pinterest-test-kitchen-fail.html

I went back through each of the original sites and read their instructions and gleaned tips about how to make these more successful.

• Some of the sites have you open up the Oreo to get the stick in the cream center. When doing this it is better to twist the cookie sides rather than just trying to pull them apart. 
• To help prevent the cookie from breaking while separating the sides, or while inserting the stick if you're not separating the sides, have your cookie more on the warm side. If the creamy filling is cold it will be hard. Microwave the cookies for a few seconds (really, just a few seconds, you don't need long), or set the cookies on top a warm oven (you can put them in a warm oven if you sit and watch them and don't forget about them). This will make it easier to get the stick in. Once the stick is in, put them in the fridge to get everything solidified again. 
• Some lollipop sticks are larger than the Oreo filling thickness. Using Double Stuff Oreos will help with that. Try using Popsicle sticks if you can't find lollipop sticks small enough. 
• When it comes to dipping the Oreos in the chocolate you can try a few things:
• Heat the chocolate gently. Overheating will cause it to seize up and be grainy. Follow the instructions on the package, use a double broiler, or it's even been suggested to put it in a crockpot. 
• Thin down the chocolate with shortening (not milk or water!). This will help to make it more smooth and easier to apply. I start with a finger-full or small spoonful and then add more as needed. 
• Dip the Oreos when they are cool or cold to help keep them from breaking or sliding apart.
• If dipping the cool Oreos isn't working (they are breaking of sliding off the stick), try instead to lower the Oreo pop into the chocolate and then spoon chocolate over the top. Rather than pulling it out by the stick, slide a fork under the Oreo and transfer it to wax paper to set. 

In the end, if all else fails, put them in a ziploc bag, smash them with a rolling pin, and then use the crumbs either as a cake or ice cream topper, or mix in a package of cream cheese, roll into balls and you have oreo truffles!