This recipe came to me from a friend of mine. She made them for my birthday this year and I really loved them, because of their dense texture and rich sweet filling. I asked her to share her whoopie pie recipe with me after I had a few failed attempts at making my own. The versions I made were tasty but they weren’t as dense and darkly colored as hers. Now, I will warn you that the secret to these is the use of shortening versus butter in the recipe. I don’t use much shortening in my recipes and I will usually try to change the shortening to butter if I come across recipes that do use it, but in this instance the pies are just not the same with butter. I go by the philosophy that everything is good in moderation, so a little vegetable shortening probably isn’t going to kill me. My friend’s mother (whom the recipe originated from) calls these “Black Moons”, which is a very fitting name with their deeply dark exterior and cratered surface.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Filling:
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla (this is the only change to the recipe I made, I increased the vanilla from 1/2 tsp.)
- 1 cup marshmallow fluff
- 1-2 tsp. milk (this lightens the frosting, my friend doesn’t use any, but I felt that it made it a smoother consistency)
Procedure
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Lightly cream the shortening and sugar together, just about a minute. Then add in the egg and mix until combined.
- With the mix running on slow I gradually add in the milk then the vanilla just until combined. I do not want to incorporate too much air into the batter because I want these whoopie pies to be dense not light and fluffy.
- In a separate medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Add this all in one shot to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
- Spoon the batter out onto a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. You can make 10 whoopie pies of about 2 tablespoons of batter each or do as I do and make only 5 large pies. You will need to measure out about a quarter cup of batter to make the large whoopie pies.
- Bake the pies for 7 minutes for the small pies and 9 minutes for the large. You are looking for a slightly firm cake that is slightly dry on the top. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare the frosting by beating the shortening and confectioner’s sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla then the fluff. Add the milk to lighten the consistency.
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