Whoopie Pie Recipe

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

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
2. Lightly cream the shortening and sugar together, just about a minute. Then add in the egg and mix until combined.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.