Banana Whoopie Pies

I hope you’ll forgive my use of the dreaded ripe bananas once again, because these are much more interesting and far more decadent than any old banana bread. I really love whoopie pies because they’re a cross between a cake and a cookie; deliciously soft and moist. You might notice that these are pretty massive, you could easily call them giant whoopie pies, but I simply don’t believe in bite-sized. You can use whatever you like to sandwich them together- buttercream, marshmallow type frosting, but I went for some whipped double cream.

Ingredients

125g butter

200g light brown sugar

1 egg

2 ripe bananas, mashed

300g plain flour

125ml buttermilk

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180⁰C. Line at least 3 baking trays with baking parchment.

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar together using an electric-hand held mixer until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and beat until combined. Don’t worry if the mixture looks slightly like it’s curdling.

Add the mashed banana, buttermilk, flour, bicarbonate and baking powder and fold gently into the wet ingredients.

Spoon dollops onto the prepared tray, leaving plenty of room for spreading.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden and just turning brown on the edges. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack.

Once they’re cool, make the filling. I whisked some double cream with a couple spoonfuls of icing sugar, and a drop of vanilla extract until it held its shape.

Sandwich two whoopies together to make a whoopie pie and then eat, and relish the feeling of the sugar coma.

It also happened to be my birthday this week. 22 years old. When did I get so old? This sentiment annoys the large amount of people that I know who are older than me, but I can’t help feeling it. Anyway, lots of my friends said that they hoped someone would make me a birthday cake like I make for them. Where do they think I learnt all this baking malarkey from? My mother of course. And here is the gorgeous teapot cake that she made for me. When you cut into it, it was marbled with chocolate to look like tea-leaves. I would have taken photos but we were far too busy eating it.