Whoopie Pies

I have, of course, made whoopie pies before.  I am sure most people that grew up in Maine have.  I haven't tried it this exact way before though.  I have a recipe on this blog that I got from Rachael Ray that is for pumpkin chocolate chip whoopie pies, and that is a popular post.  But I think that's the only whoopie pie (henceforth will be called WPs in this post) recipe on the blog.  Two summers ago we went to one of my husband's coworker's homes for a summer party.  There was a pig roast (which was cool, the kids had never seen a whole pig roasted) and a swimming pool and people brought side dishes and desserts to share.  There was a plate of WPs on the table.  I didn't go for them but the kids each got one and they were RAVING about how good they were.  I wrangled one or two of them (it was a long time ago I can't remember all the details) to give me a bite (this is before I was GF), and the filling was PERFECT.  I tracked down the maker of these WPs and asked if she would give me the recipe.  She seemed surprised, and said something like, they're just whoopie pies.  And I said yes but my kids loved them and I don't have a recipe to make them like this.  So.  The following week she gave my husband a page photocopied from a cookbook.  I don't know the name of the cookbook, but it looks old.  She wrote a couple little notes on it for me.  I am sure this is a cookbook at least from New England, because it calls for Fluff, which is a strictly New England thing.  Other places have to use Marshmallow Creme, which everybody who has had both will tell you is not even close to as good.  I don't know why it took me so long to make them, but today was the day.

Also, a note about shortening.  A lot of people shy away from traditional WPs and filling because of the shortening.  Let me tell you my philosophy on this.  I have heard my pastor say many times that fire can be good, or fire can be bad.  In a metal box in your home, fire is good, and heats your home.  If fire is not contained, it is very destructive and can burn your home to the ground.  Now, in WPs, made the Maine way, you have to have shortening.  It's just not right if you don't.  Should you eat shortening off a spoon, or eat it every day?  Certainly not.  But in its proper context, once or twice a year for a special recipe, shortening can be a useful tool.  I hope that was helpful.

Whoopie Pies
½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks, beaten
5 tbsp cocoa
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Filling:
¾ cup shortening
¾ cup powdered sugar
1 cup marshmallow fluff
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup peanut butter (Optional)(but of course I used it)

Cream shortening and sugar; beat egg yolks into creamed mixture.  Mix and sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.  Stir in vanilla.  Drop from dessert spoon onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie. 

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.  Remove at once from cookie sheets to cool on a rack. 

Cream shortening and sugar with fluff (and peanut butter if using); stir in salt and vanilla. 

Spread filling between two cookies. 

Wrap each pie individually in plastic or wax paper.  Store in tins or freezer.  These "pies" are delicious eaten directly from the freezer.

These came out awesome!!  I used a GF flour blend, which can be a gamble in a new recipe.  The pies were a tiny bit crumbly but the taste and texture were amazing.  Even the kids thought so.  So I know that regular flour would be great in these too.  I am of course keeping this recipe. 

A little note about baking stones, in case you thought my cookie sheet was dirty...it's just well seasoned!  As they say at Pampered Chef parties, "the worse it looks, the better it cooks."  I promise it's clean :)  my stones are probably at least 10 years old and I love them and my cookies and baked goods (almost) always come out perfect, and if they don't it's the recipe's fault, not the stone's fault (like the ridiculous oreo cheesecake cookies that I posted, which you can find under "what not to make").  You do have to add a minute or two to the baking time, which can be off-putting to people who don't know that in advance and think their cookies didn't bake as well on the stone as they would on metal cookie sheets.  You just have to bake them a bit longer :)  All we are saying...is give stones a chance...