Tried my hand at some whoopie pies for St. Patrick's Day - green velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.
Whoopie pies seem to be becoming pretty popular lately - those, and the similar macaron.
It was hard to find the right consistency for the cake/cookie part; tried a couple different recipes, and ended up with a batch of pancakes?? first, and the second I had to still add quite a bit of flour to to get them from a cake batter to more of a free standing cookie dough.
Basically a whoopie pie is two round pieces of cake with a creamy filling. But, to make the cake circles on a flat cookie sheet (they make whoopie pie pans just for this problem!!), you have to change the cake batter to more of a cookie dough consistency.
Anyway, they still tasted pretty delicious...the second batch, that is; the first seriously tasted like pancakes!! Strange.
Here is the recipe I used - Thank you Paula Deen! But, I had to add quite a bit more flour to the mix, like I mentioned. I halved this recipe, and once halved, I added about 1/2 cup or more of extra flour. (and I used green food coloring instead of red, duh! Just guessed the amount - dropped in the liquid color until it looked right to me)
Since I tested out 2 different pie recipes, I ended up using the frosting from this recipe blog instead of the one below. It was delicious!!
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 oz package of softened cream cheese
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 bag powdered sugar (2 lb bag)
- Milk as needed
Cream together cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a bowl until smooth. Gradually add in powdered sugar and continue mixing. I add in milk as needed to get to the desired consistency.
Pie recipe: (Like I said, I halved this recipe) The full recipe is listed below.
Servings: 24 Pies
Prep Time: 20-30 Minutes
Cook Time: 12-15 minutes
Ingredients
For the pies:3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
One 1-ounce bottle red food coloring
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
For the filling:
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, such as Crisco
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two cookie sheets. Sift the flour, baking soda, and cocoa together. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, food coloring, and vanilla.Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs together until they turn pale and double in volume. Add the oil mixture and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in five small additions, starting and ending with the flour.
Drop the batter by teaspoons onto the baking sheets, allowing 1 inch between drops, as the cookies will spread. You’ll be making 48 cookies. Bake until the cookies are firm but not crisp, about 12 minutes. Transfer immediately to racks to cool.
**Mine barely even baked for 7 minutes! Watch them closely!!
To make the filling, put the flour into a medium saucepan and slowly add the milk, whisking until smooth. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, until very thick, about 3 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
Cream the sugar, butter, shortening, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Add the cooled flour mixture and whip until fluffy. Spread onto one cookie and top it with another to make a sandwich; repeat with the remaining cookies and filling. Cover the filled whoopee pies with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
