whoopie- what?! certainly not for the dainty...

so, i was torn today between two recipes i wanted to try out... basically it came down to two things... would i rather nosh on something sweet and chocolaty (whoopie pies) or something buttery and fruity (homemade turnovers)... hmm... decisions decisions decisions... so being that i was in a state of undecided-ness, i called the hubby and asked what he would rather have as a snack (you see usually when i make and bake things, the hubs takes the bulk of them into work with him... cause for one thing i always make way too much, and not to mention, if they're in the house, we'll eat them... all of them! so i'd rather he take them into work to share)

so after explaining to him what a whoopie pie was as best as i could (you see as a kid, my mom never let us eat packaged preservative filled cookies and cakes like little debbies and hostess... we ate homemade and that was it... and now as an adult, i cant bring myself to buy them... even though the occasional hostess cupcake craving will arise, i dont submit!) so as i was saying... after explaining to him the choices, he was all about the whoopie pies, which shocked me cause the hubs is one healthy eater, and usually goes for the lighter fare... but the decision was made... whoopie pies it was!

i opted to use a recipe found on epicurious... i was going to try a recipe found on martha's website... but sometimes i'm not to satisfied with the results... plus, marthas recipe called for shortening, and sadly i was out...

so here we go..

whoopie pie recipe (yields about 8-10)

dry ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

wet/fat ingredients:

1 cup buttermilk, well shaken

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 lrg. egg

directions:

1. position oven racks to upper and lower thirds, and preheat oven to 350

2. generously butter 2 baking sheets and set aside

3. whisk together all the dry ingredients

4. stir together the buttermilk and the vanilla in a small bowl and set aside

5. with mixer on med-high, cream together the butter and the sugar until pale and fluffy

6. add egg to batter, and mix well

7. turn down mixer to low, and alternately add the flour and buttermilk to batter (starting and ending with the flour)

8. scrape down the sides of the bowl when necessary, and mix until smooth

9. scoop 1/4 cup mounds of the batter onto the cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart

10. bake for about 10-13 minutes, switching cookie sheet positions on the racks halfway through bake time

11. transfer pies from cookie sheets onto cooling rack and cool completely.

and now to fill em...hmm... would we go for the classic vanilla marshmallow filling... or maybe deviate from the norm and go for a peanutbutter cream, or maybe a chocolate ganache filling... i decided to go with classic filling, but also made a few with a peanutbutter marshmallow filling... the hubs and i are weak in the knees for peanutbutter-chocolate combos... i didnt have any fluff (we never have stuff like fluff)

luckily for us, i had some homemade madagascar vanilla bean marshmallows (recipe courtesy of mister alton brown, love that guy)... so they were going to be melted down... a fine sacrifice to the food gods...

so everything is mixed and ready to go... bake away... 10-13 minutes later...

huh?

what are these?

not the most attractive things i have made... but why does dessert and food always have to be good looking... isn't it the taste that matters... well... looks aside, these taste awesome... hubs says they look a little like mounds of (----)... well... i'll let you figure out what he said... but that didnt stop him from stuffing his face... what does that say about him, huh? haha...

and heres some actual size... massive!!

this is no double stuff!!

jack is always a willing guinea pig... but seriuosly how hard is it to not satisfy a three year old...

so, all in all a tasty success... the cake is really good, not too moist, has a nice crumb, and has a good chocolate flavor... so i'm going to work on the appearances of these little suckers... stay tuned for the next installment...