Keeping in step with our dessert theme, we’re going to talk about an often overlooked treat these days – whoopie pies! The whoopie pies goes back to the days of the Pennsylvania Dutch and unlike a lot of classic desserts, this one is uniquely American. While it’s hard to pinpoint the exact origin of the Whoopie pie, it’s generally agreed that this treat has been around since the early 1920s, being sold in bakeries around the Northeast region of the US.
The whoopie pie has a lot of names – the “black and white”; “black moon”; the “bob”; the “gob”; and the “big fat oreo (or BFO). With a name history that colorful, you know you’re in for a treat.
Whoopie pies are fairly simple in theory: a creamy frosting sandwiched between two chocolate cookies or flat cakes. There’s really no standard way to make them, which is one of the reasons why they’re so fun to create. You can take a lot of creative liberty and add innovative ingredients and flavors to really make your whoopie pie your individual treat.
The recipe below is a great starting point for making whoopie pies, but keep in mind: you can always find ways to build on top of the basics and create a whoopie pie recipe that’s uniquely yours.
How to Make Whoopie Pies
While there isn’t a standard rule for how to make whoopie pies, this recipe is great jumping off point. Here’s what you need to start:
For the cake part, you’ll need:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup of butter, softened
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 1 cup brown sugar
For the filling, you’ll need:
- 2 cups marshmallow cream
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix the vanilla and buttermilk together. In an electric mixer (if you have one – if not, whisk in a large bowl), combine the butter and brown sugar and mix at medium speed until it’s fluffy. Add in the egg and continue mixing.
Next, reduce the mixing speed to low and slowly add in the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture a little bit at a time. Alternate adding the two mixtures until you’ve combined all of the ingredients.
Once finished, grease a baking sheet and drop mounds of dough a few inches apart on the sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before icing.
To create the filling, mix the marshmallow cream; powdered sugar; butter; and vanilla in a large bowl until it’s smooth. Spoon a tablespoon of the filling mixture onto the flat side of a chocolate cake piece. Top with another chocolate cake piece, and voila! You’ve got yourself a whoopie pie!
Have you ever made whoopie pies? What’s your favorite way to make them your own? Share you recipe with us in the comments below!
