Makin' Whoopie

Perhaps my favorite gift this Christmas was the giant tin of Whoopie Pies our Little Princess and I made for Daddy.  Growing up in Maine, they were one of his favorite treats and he hasn't had one in about 6 years.  So I contacted a friend up there, got a recipe, and my Helper and I got to work!  I thought I would share this delicious {not at all healthy, but oh so decadent} recipe with you.

First, we got all of the ingredients out and lined up on the counter and then pulled out the KitchenAid.

Next, we put 1 cup of shortening, 4 eggs, and 3 cups of sugar into the bowl.

While that is mixing, put on 1 cup of water to boil (we did this in the microwave in 90 seconds), and then stir in 1 cup of cocoa powder.  Make sure to mix it up well and then add it to your mixer.  The blend will be consistent in color, but a little grainy.  Now it's starting to smell really good!

 

Now it's time to add 1 cup of Sour Milk to the mix.  If you've never done this, it's super easy.  Take out your measuring cup, put in 1 TB of vinegar and then fill up the 1 cup line with milk.  Mix it in well.

Add in 5 1/2 cups flour, a little at a time.  Then add in 2 teaspoons each of baking soda and baking powder.

 

Make sure all the dry ingredients have mixed in thoroughly.  At this point, it's pretty thick...kind of like pancake batter.  This is your cookie cake batter.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring scoop, drop onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.  I used a spatula to spread them out a little more, so each drop was about 4" in diameter and left 2" between each cake.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  The exact time will depend on how thick your cakes are.  Do NOT overcook them.  When they are done, you should be able to tooth pick them and have it come out clean.  Let them cool for a sec on the pan so they don't fall apart when you lift them onto a cooling rack.

Of course, I did have the Quality Control team check the batter before baking to make sure all would turn out satisfactorily!

 

All was deemed well and they baked up perfectly!

The last step is to pair all your "cookies" together so that you have them in like sizes (even using the scoop and spread method, this is a good idea).  The reason for doing this is that it's just about time to whip up some filling, frost them, and wrap them up!

FILLING:

2 cups shortening

2 lbs confectioners sugar

Dash of Vanilla Extract

Milk as needed to get desired consistency

(spreadable, but not runny)

You frost the flat side of the cake and top with another one.  I would have taken pictures of this step, too, except that my helper was busy and my hands were a little sticky...but they were amazing!  

Individually wrap each Whoopie Pie in either a sandwich baggie or with plastic wrap because the cakes are so moist they will stick to each other.  You can leave them out for people to pick on or freeze them; some like'em hot and some like 'em cold...but I'm not sure about 9 days old as they just won't last that long!  Have fun Makin' Whoopie ;)

Linked up with Tasty Tuesday, Hearth & Soul Bloghop, Tuesdays at the Table, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam,