Whoopie Pies!

Since tonight was my weigh-in night at Weight Watchers, I shouldn't be thinking of food but I am. In fact, I am thinking about chocolate and how good Nancy's whoopie pies were...so I dug out her recipe to share with you.  A whoopie pie is made of two round pieces of chocolate cake with a mound of frosting sandwiched between them. The origin of the whoopie pie has roots in Maine and the Amish country of Pennsylvania. There is quite a debate about where they were made first but, since I'm blogging from Maine, we'll claim them for this post. No matter where the recipe originated, whoopie pies are, as we say in Maine, "wicked good".

Here is Nancy's recipe for Chocolate Whoopie Pies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cake:
Cream together:
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. shortening
Stir into above:
1 2/3 c. flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Add:
1/2 cup milk
Pour 2/3 c. boiling water over 1/2 c. cocoa - add to rest of ingredients.
Drop by quarter-cup spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake about 10 minutes until tester comes out clean and top springs back when touched, rotating cookie sheets once during baking. When cakes have cooled, spread filling on half of them; cover with remaining cakes.

Filling:
3/4 c. Crisco (shortening)
3/4 c. Confectioners' sugar
6 Tablespoons Marshmallow Fluff
1 teaspoon vanilla
Enough milk to help mix in better
Mix all together in small bowl.

You can vary the basic Whoopie Pie recipe by adding different flavorings to the filling. Some people roll the edges in tiny chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or colored sprinkles. Here is a recipe for Peppermint Whoopie Pies:

And one for Red Velvet Whoopie Pies, which would be fun to make for Valentine's Day.

Or, as was done in this photo from Williams Sonoma, you could shape your cake mounds into hearts before baking and do something like this with the original recipe:

If you try Nancy's recipe, I'd love for you to Comment and let us know how they turned out. However you make them, enjoy!