Oreo Pudding

As I mentioned in my Honey Bun Cake instructable, the What's Cooking on Caney Creek recipe book from Caney Baptist Church in Pippa Passes, Kentucky, quickly became a treasured gift of mine. A handful of recipes were instant favorites. This is one of them. Words can't even describe it. If you like Oreos, you have to try it. It is like a really big Oreo cookie, except even better. Really. You'll see.

1 (20 oz) pkg Oreo cookies

4 Tbsp butter or margarine

8 oz pkg cream cheese

8 oz frozen whipped topping

1 cup powdered sugar

2 pkg instant vanilla pudding

3 1/2 cups milk

I break the cookies up by hand, one at a time. It doesn't take very long. I divide the cookies in half and break half of them into the bottom of a 9x13 pan and the other half into the cookie container. (They will go on top at the end.)

Cream together cream cheese, margarine or butter and powdered sugar.

I use my stand mixer for this. You'll need to mix another part of the filling separately, so you can choose to use two separate bowls (and maybe a hand mixer for this one). I chose to scrape out the mixture with a spatula into a separate bowl. The spatula works well, and it doesn't matter if the bowl isn't completely clean because it all eventually gets mixed together.

In a separate bowl (or in empty stand mixer bowl), combine vanilla pudding and milk. I pour the milk into the bowl, and slowly pour in pudding mix as it is mixing.

Stop the mixer, dump in the whipped topping and blend well.

Add the cream cheese mixture to the filling and mix until well blended and smooth. (From my experience, some small lumps don't affect the end taste or texture. Larger lumps can sometimes affect texture. Just keep mixing!)

Pour filling on top of bottom layer of crushed cookies. Sprinkle the remaining half of crushed cookies on top. (It will look like the cover picture.) Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Enjoy!