Thursday, February 26, 2009

Um, excuse me....these aren't PIES!


Why aren't these called Whoopie Cakes? Chocolate Gobs works. But definitely not pies! These were a hit! Read down below for details about our sales and notes and the such.....

Thursday is Cookie Club Day and today's delectable delight were Whoopie Pies! (2 for $1.00- sorry, we don't take online orders! LOL)

Whoopie Pies
from Martha Stewart.com

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 recipe Seven Minute Frosting, recipe follows

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. Line 2 baking pans with silpats (French nonstick baking mats or parchment paper). In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Slowly add dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

Using a 1-ounce ice cream scoop, scoop cookies onto lined baking pans, 12 cookies per baking pan. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining batter. Spread 2 tablespoons of frosting on the bottom of 24 cookies. Sandwich together with remaining 24 cookies. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Seven Minute Frosting:
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
5 tablespoons cold water
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a medium heatproof bowl, combine egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, and cream of tartar with 5 tablespoons of cold water. Place over a pot of boiling water. Using a hand held electric mixer beat on high for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Continue to beat until frosting has cooled.

Yield: 3 cups


Baker's Notes:

  • In Martha's pictures hers were smaller with more filling. If we had done smaller ones I don't think there would have been enough frosting! Using our small cookie scoops...look how big these turned out. When I first put the frosting in....it just oozed out and the cookies weren't warm! Perhaps I did something wrong in the cooking of the frosting...dunno.
  • The frosting was a bit of a pain to do. Heating, spinning bowl, whipping with electric mixer, arm getting tired....I was thinking I should have just cut corners and used some whipped white frosting or marshmallow cream...When I got to my last few cookies, I did run out of the frosting and had to use a little marshmallow cream....it's not the same. The frosting definitely tastes better.
We made a quadruple batch today. Meaning a double batch per KitchenAid Mixer. OH man, did that make a lot of cookies! It is hard to tell sometimes the exact amount a recipe can make, the dishers may be different....I was thinking "well, each 'pie' will require 2 cookies, and I don't want to end up only making like 50 and selling only 25 with all the effort..." Well, after we mixed both bowls worth and I got each oven running (3 of them- don't you wish you could bake your cookies at home in 3 ovens at a pop?). I then merged the bowls together....it was unreal the amount of batter we had. I thought the batter would never reach bottom.

But, it was a great call, the students loved them. Even though they didn't know what a 'whoopie pie' was...when I told them they were a homemade version of the Oreo Cakesters, then they knew! All it took was a few students buying them and they shared with others who came and bought their own...who shared with others....it was great. We ended up making over $104. That means @ two sandwiches per bag our quadruple batch made 208 sandwiches (give or take a few cookies that were sampled)

A lot of work but it was worth it. Definitely a do-again but perhaps the same 'pie' with a peanut butter filling?

5 comments:

Ginger said...

These look perfect. Mine just never turn out!! Great bake sale item. Have a good weekend.

Jenny Saunders said...

This cookie recipe was awesome... I don't think my frosting was as fluffy as it should have been....but the kids raved over them....and that is all that matters, right?

oneordinaryday said...

What an awesome idea and what a delicious treat! I made whoopie pies recently too and they were a huge hit.
Michelle
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

I grew up in Amish Country, Lancaster County, and I always forget that Whoppie Pies are not common everywhere else like they are here. But they are soooooo yummy. The last time I made them, I couldn't find my filling recipie, so I whipped heavy cream in my mixer, add in some cream cheese, vanilla and confectioners sugar, and they turned out pretty darn good.

Also, as far as Amish Country treats are concerned, if you've never had Shoo-Fly Pie I highly recommend it... SO GOOD

pita said...

My husband grew up in Maine and whoopie pies are very popular up there. when i make them, i fill them with buttercream frosting. i've also made pumpkin ones with cream cheese frosting. peanutbutter frosting is also very good, so give that a try. when the cakesters came out we gave them a try but found them to taste off since we are used to homemade, but most people can relate to the cakester reference.