Whoopie Pies

Taking a break from the Asher-friendly fare, here are a couple of recipes for whoopie pies. For those unfamiliar with the whoopie pie concept, they are Southern sandwich cookies. They are usually huge and always delicious. Enjoy!

Classic Whoopie Pies
from Whoopie Pies (via Bakerella)

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
4 Tbsp vegetable shortening
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
3. In another bowl, beat butter, shortening and sugar with a mixer on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat for 3 minutes.
4. Add egg and vanilla and beat for 2 more minutes.
5. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk and beat on low until incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour and milk and beat until combined.
6. Using a tablespoon, drop batter on baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes each or until pies spring back when pressed gently.
7. Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
   

Salty Peanut Butter Filling

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (or crunchy)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1. Beat peanut butter and butter on low until creamy using a mixer.
2. Add sugar and salt and beat on low to incorporate. Increase speed to medium and beat for 4 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
3. Spread filling on flat side of one cooled cake. Top with a second cake and press gently.

Makes 24 two-inch pies (if using 1 Tbsp of batter) or 15 four-inch pies (if using 2 Tbsp of batter).

The prepped batter. It smells delightfully chocolatey.
Cooling cookies.
The finished product: all reviews were good. Honestly, I didn't get to try them since I'm currently on the Asher diet but Tyler loved them. All others who tried them were positive as well. I was just happy to discover that I'm just as happy making cookies as I am eating them. I always thought that I was a stress-eater. In this case, I got all the enjoyment of making the cookies and none of the guilt of eating them. Perfect!

Moving on...a second whoopie pie recipe.

Lemon Whoopie Pies
from the Big Fat Cookie book (via Joy the Baker)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 large egg
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest together on the medium speed of an electric mixer for about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during the mixing. Add the egg, lemon juice, and vanilla, mixing until blended, about 1 minute. The batter may look curdled. On low speed, add half of the flour mixture just to incorporate it. Mix in the buttermilk (put 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice in a measuring cup and fill up to 1/2 cup level with regular milk; let set for 5 minutes and use as buttermilk). Mix in remaining flour mixture just until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth again.
3. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops feel firm, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lemon Cream Cheese Filling

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1. In a large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice on low speed until thoroughly blended and smooth, about 1 minute. Add powdered sugar and mix until smooth. If the filling is too soft to hold its shape, chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
2. Turn half the cookies bottom side up. Leaving 1/4-inch plain edge, use a thin metal spatula to spread each one with about 1/4 cup of filling. Gently press the flat bottoms of the remaining cookies onto the fillings.
3. Wrap each cooking in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serve cold.
   

I don't have any process shots of this one so we'll skip to the final product. I honestly didn't get to try these either. Tyler's not a huge lemon fan so he didn't eat them (he stuck with the chocolate and peanut butter ones). They smelled incredible and looked so cute. I'll make them again sometime (maybe when I can actually try them).