Whoopie Pies
- Valerie
- Jun 8, 2019
- 3 min read
When I was a kid, my dad would take us to this bakery that seemed really far away from home. As an adult, I know it's only about 12 miles away. At that bakery, they sold these heavenly cookies that were a like a sandwich. The cookies were a fudgy chocolate and there was a marshmallow cream on the inside. They were so good. That particular place called them Moon Pies and I never forgot about them.
Lately, I have seen recipes for Whoopie Pies all over the place and go figure, they are pretty much the exact same thing as those Moon Pies I used to eat as a kid. Ironically, in my 30's, marshmallow cream is not my favorite thing to eat anymore, so when I set out to make these, I decided that the filling I would use would be a buttercream. Buttercream is versatile in my opinion. You can flavor it several different ways, decorate with it, frost cakes with it, etc... And it pretty much always tastes good.
American Buttercream is comprised of sugar, butter, milk, and a flavor extract. In this recipe, I will be making a vanilla buttercream. You can use shortening in place of the butter or half and half. Adding shortening will make your buttercream hold up better in the heat because the melting point of shortening is much higher than butter.
Note when using shortening like Crisco, it may be harder to clean your mixing bowl (if washing by hand). You'll need to use very hot water to clean it out well, so if you have access to a dishwasher, use a mixing bowl you can put in there when you are done.
It took me a couple of tries to get the whoopie pie the way that I wanted and you will see that in the photo below. The first attempt, the dough had too much flour; the cookie tastes great, but they didn't flatten out. The second attempt (which I just added more milk to the dough to loosen it up) worked much better. The dough should be almost like a thick cake batter or brownie batter. It seemed odd to me, too, when I was making it, but it worked out very well.
Here's what you'll need to make whoopie pies:
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup - 3/4 cups of milk
Here's how to make them:
1. Heat your oven to 350 F.
2. Mix together the butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Add the eggs. Add in the soda, powder and salt.
3. Alternating, add the flour and milk. Make sure the last thing you add is the milk. Ensure that you are getting that thick cake batter consistency, so you may need to add more or less milk.
4. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet, or parchment paper. I use a cookie scoop/melon baller which made a good sized cookie.
5. Bake for 7-9 minutes. You'll know they are done when you can touch one gently and it springs back to shape.
6. Let the cookies cool completely before adding in the buttercream.
American Buttercream Recipe:
- 3 cups of powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-4 tbsp of milk
I recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe. You want to incorporate some air into the buttercream so that its fluffy and a stand mixer does this well. Make sure you add the powdered sugar in slowly, or it will end up all over you, the counter, the floor, and the dog.
1. Mix the butter, vanilla, and 1 cup of the powdered sugar in the mixing bowl. Add in 1-2 tbsp of milk, then add another 1 cup of the powdered sugar into the bowl. Add 1 more tbsp of milk, and the final 1 cup of powdered sugar. You can add more milk if you want a softer buttercream, but if you add too much, you'll end up with a glaze - great on other things, but not for whoopie pies.
You can use a piping bag with a nice star tip to put the buttercream onto a cookie, but you can also just spoon it on. Totally your choice.
If you're not going to enjoy these right away, I suggest putting them in the fridge so that the buttercream doesn't soften too much, especially if it is warm in your house.
These are really yummy. I hope you enjoy!
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