Whoopie Pies

Last year I did a unit about Magazine Writing where I was able to write a baking article a.k.a. easiest piece of coursework everrrr. At the time whoopie pies were a big baking trend so I gave it a go. They’re really tasty and make impressive little tea-time treats.

Here is a basic whoopie recipe but there are endless variations. Depending on what you like, once you’ve mastered the basics you can make pretty much any flavour of whoopie you wish.

The basic whoopie recipe:
Makes around 24 whoopie pies

Prep time: 20 mins + 30 mins chilling time

Cooking time: between 8-10 mins at 180°C/ gas 4

280g plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of salt
150g unsalted butter, softened
125g sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
100ml whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Stir in salt and leave to one side.

In a separate bowl cream the softened butter
and sugar together until light and fluffy using
an electric hand whisk. Add the egg and egg yolk
and mix well. Add the milk and vanilla to the
butter mixture. Slowly add the dry ingredients,
mixing until just incorporated.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

This gives you time to complete the most enjoyable aspect of baking: the washing up!

Meanwhile preheat the oven and line 3 trays with baking parchment. Depending on oven size it may take several batches to bake the whole mixture. Other recipes I’ve seen state that you drop small scoops of batter 5cm apart but on my first attempt at making whoopies I was rewarded with one big whoopie. It still tasted very nice but be warned, the mixture spreads in the oven. On my second attempt I put around 9 balls on each tray with plenty of room to grow which worked perfectly. I used two small tea spoons to make little balls of mixture; don’t be tempted to flatten the top as you might with a cookie because the whoopie should be slightly round in shape.

 

Bake the whoopies until they are left with a slight impression when touched with a finger (Don’t be put off by this if you are used to baking cakes which should spring back when cooked). Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

To assemble the whoopies into whoopie pies you need to make some filling. The traditional American recipes like to use a fluffy marshmallow cream. For this you need:

3 egg whites
150g caster sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
Pinch of salt
1tsp pure vanilla extract

Weigh all ingredients into a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of boiling water. Whisk continuously by hand until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture looks frothy and slightly opaque (takes around 10 mins).

Remove from the heat and whip the mixture on a very high speed using an electric whisker until it is white and thick and holds its shape. Use straight away. You can mix in some colouring or replace the vanilla with an essence such as lemon to decorate them how you like.

If you are making the whoopies for an occasion make them several hours before to give the filling the time to set. I believe the whoopie pies will keep well for at least three days but mine have never been around long enough to test this theory since they always get eaten as quickly as humanly possible.  

Other flavours I’ve tried can transform the whoopie into something quite special. I’ve tried a chocolate chip whoopie where you replace the milk with buttermilk and dark chocolate chips put together with a chocolate butter cream. The coconut whoopie uses coconut milk, rum and desiccated coconut and is surprisingly light and has a softer texture than the basic whoopie.

For more recipes simply type ‘whoopie pie’ into Amazon and you get a whole range of books including ‘Whoopie Pies Go British’ for an English take and a lovely book ‘The whoopie pie book’ with tons of ideas by Claire Ptak who owns Violet, a London baking company.