Fudgee-o Whoopie Pies

Fudgee-o Whoopie Pies

My teen daughter Olivia has been in the kitchen baking again. She took a break from her recent obsession, those utterly amazing Nutella Swirl Brownies, which she has made a half dozen times in the last few weeks to make these terrific whoopie pies based upon a favorite Canadian fudge sandwich cookie that we featured before in our recipe for Homemade Fudgee-o Cookies.

These double chocolate whoopie pies are pretty easy to make and would make a fun baking project with little kids; great for after school snacks and lunchboxes too.

Makes about 10 whoopie pies

• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp sifted flour
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sour milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.

Beat together shortening, butter, sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla

Add milk, cocoa and hot water. Then add the dry ingredients.

Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter onto a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet and space at least 2" apart.  Small sized ice cream or cookie dough scoop works really well too. Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until centers spring back when touched. Cool completely.

Chocolate Fudge Filling

• 2 1/2 cups icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 tbsp milk

Mix together the icing sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla and a couple of tablespoons of milk until smooth. Add more milk as needed to bring the frosting to a thick but smooth and spreadable consistency. Spoon between two of the whoopie pie sections and press together slightly.

Honey Banana Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies

 

You cannot have enough recipes to use up those speckled, ripe bananas that constantly seem to regenerate themselves on your counter top. We use them for banana muffins, chocolate chip banana bread, chocolate pecan banana bread and most recently an utterly decadent Sticky Banana Toffee Pudding.

Yesterday, in trying to figure out a way to use up a little extra cream cheese frosting, I decided to try an idea that was sure to get the kids attention and use those bananas in one of their favorites, Whoopie Pies. With the constant parade of teenagers that go through our house, I knew they would not last long but with that tempting cream cheese frosting as a filling they were just as appealing to the adults in the house as well. This one turned out to be a real winner and another welcome addition to our growing list of recipes that will guarantee that not another over-ripe banana will go to waste here.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Makes about 10 -12 whoopie pies

 

Sift together and set aside:

 

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon 

 

To the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment add:

 

2 large or 3 small bananas, mashed

1/2 cup honey

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

3 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup softened butter, room temperature

1/3 cup olive oil

 

Whisk all together for several minutes, then fold in the dry ingredients by hand, being careful not to over mix the batter once the flour is fully incorporated.

Drop heaping  tablespoons of the batter onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, 3 to 4 inches apart. Use more batter if you want larger whoopie pies. I have a small ice cream scoop that I use for my whoopie pies which is an ideal measurement and makes the job go very quickly. I then use the back of a spoon to spread the batter out to about a 1/2 inch thickness on the cookie sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes depending upon the size of your whoopie pies. Look for the edges to be beginning to brown and the center to spring back when lightly touched to determine if they are fully baked.

When baked, let the cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. When cool, sandwich two of the cookies together with some cream cheese frosting. Chocolate frosting is also very delicious as a different variation.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cream cheese
3 1/2 cups icing sugar (powdered sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
a little milk

Blend together the cream cheese, vanilla extract and butter, then slowly add the icing sugar adding a little milk (a teaspoon or two) with it until all the icing sugar is used and the icing is a smooth, creamy, spreadable consistency. Use only enough milk to get it to this point. For whoopie pies you will want the frosting consistency to be a little more on the stiff side.