Whoopie! It’s January and a New Year. Chocolate whoopie pies are just what’s needed to celebrate the start of 2022. The surprise about this recipe is that it came from one of the library’s fiction books, The Café Between Pumpkin and Pie, which was not where I was expecting to find a delicious treat. As I looked, it was interesting to see just how many other fictional books included recipes. I’m looking forward to trying a few from the Red Sparrow trilogy by Jason Matthews. Hopefully they will turn out to be just as tasty as these are.
(Adapted from The Café Between Pumpkin and Pie by Kate Angell)
For the Cakes:
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
For the Marshmallow Filling:
- 1 ½ cup marshmallow fluff
- 1 ¼ cups vegetable shortening
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- Position rack in the center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, beat together butter, shortening, and brown sugar on low speed to combine; increase speed to medium and cream until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes.
- Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk to the batter and mix on low to combine. Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining flour and milk and beat until combined.
- Using a small cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop batter onto prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between cakes. Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack to cool completely.
- While cakes are cooling, mix up filling.
- In a large bowl, beat together the marshmallow fluff and shortening, starting on low and increasing to medium speed until the mixture is smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat until incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 3 more minutes.
- Assemble the whoopie pies.
- Spread* about a Tablespoon of filling onto the flat side of one of the cakes, using a knife. Top with another cake, flat side down. Repeat with remaining cakes and filling.
*Or, you can use a pastry bag with a rounded tip to pipe the filling onto the cakes, which gives a cleaner look to the finished whoopie pies.
Makes 24-36 pies, depending on the size of the scoop.