ALMOST OLD-FASHIONED WHOOPIE PIES

Whoopie pies, for those of you not from the Northeast, are considered a New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition.  Did Amish women make them first, or did New Englanders?  No one knows for sure.  Legend has it that Amish women would bake these desserts (known as hucklebucks at the time) and put them in their children's lunch pails or lunch boxes. When children would find the treats in their lunch, they would shout "Whoopie!"  Maine claims the whoopie pie as their official state treat.  

A true old-fashioned whoopie pie is made with shortening, not butter.  And many older recipes did not use commercially made marshmallow fluff for the filling.  No matter, even though this is not the original whoopie pie, it's as old fashioned as I want to be.  I'll eat butter over shortening any day of the week.  

My first batch, using 1/4 cup batter per cookie according to instructions, made ginormous cookies.  1 level tablespoonful of batter makes a better two-bite size, at least for me.   I’ll have to make these again to get a proper count, but I’m guessing the yield to be about 4 dozen cookies, or 2 dozen sandwiches.  The cookies are chocolatey, soft and velvety, not too sweet, and they go perfectly with the just-sweet-enough filling.  I’ll be making these again, for sure. 


Other soft sandwich-type cookie recipes I love:  Swoon Pies, Chocolate-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies, and Candy Johnson’s Whoopie Pie Cookies.

Almost Old-Fashioned Whoopie Pies Adapted from forkingdelicious.blogspot.com Rating:  10 out of 10 Click for PRINTABLE PAGE

COOKIES:  2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1/2 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder 1-1/4 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. Diamond kosher salt 1 (5.3 oz.) container plain nonfat Greek yogurt + enough fresh coffee to yield 8 ounces 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I used my homemade vanilla.)  1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed 1 large egg Heat oven to 350F.  Line sheet pans with parchment paper.  In a small bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Resift.  In another small bowl, stir together yogurt, coffee and vanilla. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add egg, scraping down sides of bowl to combine.  Reduce mixer speed to low and alternately mix in dry ingredients and yogurt mixture in batches, beginning and ending with flour.  Scrape down side of bowl occasionally and mix until smooth. Using a level tablespoonful of batter, drop mounds about 2” apart on prepared pans.  Bake in middle of oven till tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched, about 9-10 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted near center returns with just a few crumbs.  Transfer cakes to a rack to cool completely.  When cool, dollop a rounded teaspoonful of filling on flat sides of half of cakes and top with remaining cakes.  Whoopie pies can be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen or refrigerated.  Yield:  about 48 cookies, 24 sandwiches, depending on size FILLING: 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 1 cup confectioner’s sugar 1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow fluff 1 tsp. vanilla powder or pure vanilla extract (I used homemade vanilla powder.)  Cream together butter and sugar till light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add marshmallow fluff and vanilla and continue beating till smooth and light, about 2 more minutes.

WHOOPIE PIES

I went on a whoopie pie baking streak.  Three different whoopie pies.  But only one made the grade with me. 
The first was a Food Network Magazine recipe for Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.  
I found these a bit dry with too much chocolate/cocoa for red velvet.  They weren’t very red because of all the chocolate.  They were delicately cakey and not very sweet.  The over-all flavor is good, but I would not make them again.  I rate them a 6 out of 10.
Next, I adapted a highly rated allrecipes.com recipe, Ultimate Maple Snickerdoodles. 

Instead of cinnamon, I used Chai spice, but kept the maple syrup in.  I sprinkled the tops with Chai spice and sugar instead of cinnamon and sugar.  And I sandwiched them with vanilla cream cheese frosting.  They were way too sweet for me.  The cookies, by themselves, were good though, so I may make them again.  I rate them an 8 out of 10.  They won’t be sandwiched in the future though.
The winner was Whoopie Pie Cookies, a recipe sent to Penzey’s Spices from Candy Johnson.  


















The cookies are moist, soft, not too sweet and mate perfectly with the sweet frosting.  The only thing I changed was to add some coffee essence to the batter.  This last batch was  received with praises from all.  A definite keeper.

Whoopie Pie Cookies Adapted from penzeys.com Rating:  9.5 out of 10 PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS: 1/2 large egg (one large egg = about 3-1/4 Tbsp.  1/2 large egg = about 1-1/2 Tbsp.) 2-1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp. vanilla powder  (or 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract added with wet ingredients) 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/8 tsp. sea salt 1/4 cup buttermilk (or add 3/4 tsp. vinegar to sweet milk and let stand 15 minutes) 1/2 tsp. coffee essence -- optional (equal parts instant coffee powder + coffee liqueur) Heat oven to 350F.  Line baking sheets with greased parchment paper. In medium bowl, whisk egg, oil and sugar till smooth.  On wax paper or in small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, vanilla powder (if using), baking soda and salt.  Add 1/3 of the dry mixture and beat with spoon or spatula till combined.  Now add 1/2 the milk and the coffee flavoring (and vanilla extract if using) and beat again till combined.  Repeat, ending with flour mixture.  Do not overbeat, just be sure to combine all ingredients well.  Drop batter by tablespoons onto cookie sheets, several inches apart.  Bake 8-10 minutes, until top springs back when lightly touched.  Remove  to wire racks to cool.  When cool, spread filling between two cookies to make sandwiches.  Yield will depend on size of cookies, but expect about 12 sandwiches from 24 cookies. Marshmallow Creme Filling 1 stick butter or Smart Balance 50/50 Butter Blend 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted first 1 cup marshmallow creme or fluff 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract In medium bowl, combine all ingredients and beat till light and fluffy.

CHOCOLATE-PEANUT BUTTER WHOOPIE PIES

This month’s runner-up in the “Chocolate-Peanut Butter Desserts” Category for Better Homes & Gardens’ Prize-Tested Recipes contest was Jennifer O’Connor, Brunswick, Maine, for these clever whoopie pie derivatives.  While the cookie is not exactly like a puffy traditional whoopie pie, it is very good.  Fudgy, tender and flavorful, the cookie holds a wonderfully light peanut butter-mallow filling that really steals the show. 

I added a bit of creme de cocoa, vanilla powder and cinnamon to the filling, and used regular chocolate chips instead of minis, only because I didn’t have minis and was too lazy to go to the store.  The original recipe calls for sprinkling some mini chips on the tops of the cookies, but I thought the regular chips would overwhelm the small tops and left out that step.  My additional flavorings are, of course, optional, but I like what they added to the filling.  I tasted the batter before and after, and liked it better after my additions. 

The cookies are sweet and rich-tasting to me and utterly delicious.  I had one, and stopped myself from continuing.  It was hard, because these are, as I said, very good.  Congrats to Jennifer for her win and thanks for a real crowd-pleasing cookie.  These were well received at the Super Bowl Party we attended on Sunday.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies Adapted from BH&G Prize Tested Recipes, February 2010 Rating:  9.5 out of 10 PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS: 12 oz. pkg. mini semi-sweet chocolate pieces (I used regular chips) 2 Tbsp. milk 3/4 cup butter, softened (add a bit of salt if using unsalted butter) 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter 1-1/2 cups sugar 1/2 tsp. sea salt 2 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder Filling:  1 cup softened butter, 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 cup marshmallow creme, 2 cups powdered sugar.  Optional:  Add 1 Tbsp. creme de cocoa (or coffee brandy or strong coffee), 1/4 tsp. vanilla powder or vanilla extract + 1/4 tsp. cinnamon) 1. Heat oven to 350F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 2. Set aside 1/4 cup chocolate pieces to sprinkle on cookies.  In microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 cup of the chocolate pieces and 2 Tbsp. milk.  Microwave on 50% power 1 minute, or till melted, stirring once.  Set aside. 3. In large bowl, beat butter and peanut butter with electric mixer until combined.  Add sugar and salt; beat to combine.  Add eggs, 1/2 cup milk, vanilla and melted chocolate; beat to combine.  Beat in cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and baking powder until combined.  Stir in remaining chocolate pieces.  Drop by rounded teaspoons 2” apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  Sprinkle with reserved chocolate pieces, if desired.  Bake 9 minutes or till cookies are set (test with toothpick).  Cool on cookie sheets about  1 minute; transfer to wire racks; cool completely before filling.  4.  Combine all filling ingredients in medium bowl and beat till smooth and fluffy with electric mixer.  Add additional liquid, if needed to make a soft, fluffy filling.  To assemble, spread flat sides of half the cookies with filling; top with remaining cookies.  Yield:  39 pies (78 cookies)