Chocolate & Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

Of all desserts and confections, the ones that induce smiles just by the name for me would have to be whoopie pies. I mean,honestly, just say "whoopie pie" a few times...happier,yet? I thought so.

It is said that the name comes from when people would find them in their lunch boxes and cry out "Whoopie!" in delight. Perfectly understandable, I'd say.


What makes me just as happy as saying whoopie pie, is making them. They're so easy!

My foremost concerns when making something new are getting the aesthetics just right. I want the final result to look just as good as I hope it tastes, and for these little cakes I seriously considered buying a 'whoopie pie pan'. Then I remembered great words spoken by a great idol of mine : "Stay away from single purpose items!"...and I went with an ice cream scoop instead.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Original Recipe

2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed light brown sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 egg,room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Makes about 2 dozen pies.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter until till light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and alternate additions of flour mixture and buttermilk, mixing until fully incorporated after each addition.
3. Scoop about a tablespoons of batter 2 inches apart on baking sheets. I filled my ice cream scoop about halfway full and they were the perfect size and shape. Bake until cakes spring back when pressed lightly, about 10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking.
4. Cool cakes on sheets for a few minutes, then slide parchment onto wire cooling rack and repeat for remaining batter.

They're so nice and pillow-y!

 
Peanut Butter Filling
6 oz cream cheese,room temperature
2 1/2 tablespoons butter,softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter

1. Sift powdered sugar.Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating between each addition and scraping the bowl down often. Add the peanut butter and beat until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. 
2. Spoon or pipe (I prefer piping, they look neater and it's just fun to pipe frosting!) generous amount of filling onto half the cakes, then gently top with remaining cakes, pressing down gently to make a small sandwich.

See? Piping is much better :)

Yum!