Whoopie Pies

If you've never had a Whoopie Pie, they are large, cake-like cookies with a fluffy marshmallow filling. Very good and very rich. Beware...you will have a lifelong craving for them once you try them.

The first time I had a Whoopie Pie was at a church function about 15 years ago. Miss Opal made dozens and brought them to a tag sale for the youth group. She was about 85 years young and didn't miss an opportunity to support any part of the church - from the nursery crew to the other seniors in the church. I don't think many of the Whoopie Pies she brought that day got sold to benefit the tag sale because we knew the reputation of Miss Opal's cooking and the tray of Whoopie Pies was pretty much gone before the sale began. Everyone kept sneaking by and grabbing one or two as they worked to get the sale ready. Miss Opal moved to Minnesota to live with some family members but I was able to get the recipe from her to include in a church cookbook. Here is her recipe.
Miss Opal's Whoopie Pies
2/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Nestles Quik chocolate flavored mix
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
Filling
3/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups marshmallow creme
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix together shortening and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with the milk. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cookies cool for 2 - 3 minutes before removing to a wire rack. While cookies are cooling, cream together butter, sugar, marshmallow creme and vanilla. Spread marshmallow mixture between 2 cookies making a cookie sandwich.
Now, recently on the day my family desperately decided we needed some Whoopie Pies, I didn't have any Nestles Quik so I found this recipe for Whoopie Pies. It was good but a little bit crumbly. I would have liked the cake to hold up better with the heavy filling (the marshmallow makes for a dense filling.) Nevertheless, the taste was rich and chocolatey and this recipe is a keeper, too.
Whoopie Pies #2
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1 dgg
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
Filling
3/4 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2 cups marshmallow creme
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheets. In a large bowl, cream together shortening, sugar, and egg. In another bowl, combine cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture, alternating with the milk mixture; add vanilla and beat until smooth. Drop batter by the 1/4 cup onto prepared baking sheets. With the back of a spoon spread batter into 4-inch circles, leaving approximately 2 inches between each cake. Bake 15 minutes or until they are firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Step 1: Mix together the shortening and sugar.

Step 2: Add the egg.

Step 3: Add the dry ingredients alternating with the milk. Add the vanilla. You will have a creamy and thick batter.

Step 4: Use a scoop to drop the batter onto a greased cookie sheet.


Step 5: Mix together filling. Now, some Whoopie Pie purists will say that the filling should be made from vegetable shortening instead of butter. I tend to agree with Miss Opal and use butter in my filling. But, if you want to be a Whoopie Pie snob, you will need to substitute the butter in my recipes for Crisco. (Some REALLY traditional Whoopie people even use lard!!!) The Whoopie Pies you get from bakeries will most decidedly use shortening instead of butter, but I just can't quite make myself eat a glob of shortening between two cookies. I know, I know... grease is grease. Butter is a fat and so is shortening, but I must admit I like the taste of butter better and I just have never really made many kinds of frostings or fillings with a shortening base. Maybe I'm a butter snob.
So, with that said...scoop whatever filling you decide between two cooled cookies. Enjoy!





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