Whoopie Pies

The first time I had a whoopie pie was about 3 years ago. My sister was engaged to a boy from Maine and he took her to Maine to visit his parents and homestate. It was right around my birthday when she visited and on my birthday I got this huge box in the mail. I had no idea what it was...except it said Wicked Whoopie on the outside. I was a bit hesitant to open it! But inside were a dozen glorious Wicked Whoopie Pies. They were the size of my head, chocolately, and absolutely amazing. She sent me classic chocolate and chocolate chip. They were packaged individually in plastic bags. After the pie was gone, I had to inside-out the plastic bag, stick it on my hand like a glove and lick the leftover frosting off the inside of the bag. I had no shame, they were that good.

Ever since then, i've been trying to re-create them in my own kitchen. Many recipes are a doctored up cake mix attempt and to be honest...are not that good. I ran across a recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookie magazine and I wanted to give this recipe a whirl. And i'm so glad I did!


The cake part was spot on!!! It tasted almost like the original whoopies I tried, they were so darn good. I was disappointed with the filling recipe in the magazine, it was way too runny and I had to do some quick fixing to salvage it.

But I think I salvaged it pretty well. It was delicious inbetween those two little chocolately pillows. This is the closest I ever got to the original and I wish my sister was here for a taste test!


So my sister married that Maine boy and now she's living in Maine. I think it might have been the whoopie pies.

Classic Whoopie Pies
from Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookies magazine 2009

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat shortening on medium for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in buttermilk, egg, and vanilla until combined.

2. In medium bowl, stir together flour and cocoa powder. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour mixture.

3. Drop dough from a rounded measuring tablespoon 2 1/2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack, let cool.

Now...I basically made a vanilla buttercream frosting for the middle filling. Spread the flat side of one cookie with frosting. Then top it with another cookie. Squish it together gently. I am thinking maybe a marshmallow fluff frosting recipe might be pretty good in the recipe. I will just have to make them again to try it out!

Happy Monday everyone!