Whatever you call it: whoopie pie, gob, black-and-white, bob, or “BFO” for Big Fat Oreo, just make sure you call it GOOD.
For my birthday my friend Jes sent me a cookbook for whoopie pies! She and I made homemade marshmallows once, back when we were experimenting with ideas for my black and white wedding. I mentioned whoopie pies, but we never did make them. I guess this was her way of filling her obligation to cook with me. She sends the book, I cook it. Getting the book in the mail is a whole other story…let’s just say that somewhere there is a postal worker making whoopie pies in secret. After a re-purchase and a re-ship, the book finally arrived.
Not wanting to wait until I had time to go to the store, I surveyed the book quickly to see which confection I could make with what I had on hand. The winner?
The Classic Chocolate Whoopie
Ingredients
- 1-2/3 c. all-purpose flour
- 2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 Tbsp vegetable shortening
- 1 c. packed, dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1-1/4 c. milk (I used lactose-free skim milk)
Position the rack in the center of the over and preheat to 375 F. Line your two baking sheets with parchment paper (NOT the same as wax paper).
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt on a sheet of waxed paper. In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, shortening, and brown sugar on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium; beat for 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat 2 more minutes.
Add half of flour mixture and half of milk to batter; beat briefly on low. Beat in remaining flour mixture and milk.
Using a spoon, drop batter 1 Tbsp at a time onto one of the baking sheets, spacing at least 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes, or until pies spring back when pressed gently. Remove from oven; let pies cool on sheet for 5 minutes; transfer to a rack to finish cooling.
And now for the filling…
I had one very ripe banana on the counter, so I opted for the Banana Buttercream filling. Except I kicked it up a notch with some creamy peanut butter…because, well, why not?!
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp (1/2) stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 c. very ripe banana (about 1)
- 1/4 tsp fresh lime juice (isn’t that a fun surprise!?!?)
- 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-1/2 to 4 c. confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
In a stand mixer beat the butter, starting on low and increasing to medium speed, until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the salt, banana, peanut butter, lime juice and vanilla and beat on medium until smooth through and through.
Add the confectioner’s sugar, 1 cup at a time, and beat on low until incorporated. Increase speed to medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add more confectioner’s sugar until you get the consistency you want.
Now, plate them up…and enjoy! These stay fresh in an air-tight container and they are an awesome dessert to take to picnics or pot lucks – they travel quite well! Plus, if you’re trying to portion control, one is perfect size for that!
My favorite thing about the book is that it not only encourages you to make sweet whoopie pies, but savory ones too! I can’t wait to try the jalapeno cornbread whoopie with bacon-chive goat cheese. Yum!
