Chocolate Whoopie Pies

I have been dying to cook and taste whoopie pies ever since I started hearing about them months ago on Annie's Eats. So you can only imagine how happy I was when I received the latest addition of Super Food Ideas magazine and found them on the front cover. I knew immediately that I would be making them this weekend.


For people out there who are not familiar with whoopie pies, they are an American dessert and are a cross between a cake and a biscuit and have a soft filling sandwiched in the middle. Needless to say they look amazing.

So today I set out to make whoopie pies and I have to say I am very impresses with my first attempt. The cake/biscuit is lovely and soft and the filling (I used a cream cheese filling) helped it from not being too rich. The only word or warning I would have is to remember that when you place the cake mix on the baking tray that it will spread as it cooks, so leave plenty of room between each dollop.

Chocolate Whoopie Pie with Cream Cheese Filling

Makes: 15
Ingredients
For the biscuits:
125g butter, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1½ cups plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
¼ tsp baking powered
½ cup buttermilk

For the filling:
75g butter, softened
1 ½ cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g cream cheese, softened

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 180˚c and line a baking tray with baking paper

Using an electric mixer place butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Blend in the eggs, one at a time. In another bowl sift the flour cocoa, bicarbonate soda and baking powder. Add half of the flour mix in with the butter and mix gently. Add in half of the buttermilk and continue to add the flour mix and buttermilk, mixing as you do so.

When the mixture is just combined, drop a medium size tablespoon (be careful not to go overboard here as the mixture will spread out) onto your prepared tray. Make sure to leave a space of about 5cm between each tablespoon.

Bake 1 tray at a time (I ended up making 3 trays) and cook for about 8 minutes, or until the ‘biscuit’ is puffed and cooked through. Leave to cool before assembling with the filling.

To make the filling place the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and mix using an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Slowly add in the cream cheese.

To assemble place a tablespoon of the filling onto the flat side of one ‘biscuit’ and the place another biscuit on top, so both  flat sides are almost touching. You can then dust with some cocoa powder, or sprinkles and I did.

Source: adapted from Super Food Ideas October 2011 edition