Dear Whoopie Pie, if only…

I’ve discovered there are some people in life that you want to write a letter to to say all the wonderful things you think about them, but would never say aloud. And then there are those letters you want to write that send the familiar reminisence of that correctional bar of soap your parents used to try to scrub away the words they didn’t want to develop into your vocabulary.

Ok, so my mom and dad never scrubbed my mouth with a bar of soap. Even when I decided for a short period of time to experiment with parts of the English language that weren’t exceptable for fourth graders. It was great fun learning to incorporate them into my everyday sentences, believe me. But once I realized that I wasn’t really getting a reaction, the words washed themselves from my mouth.

That’s how I felt with these Whoopie pies. I had mixed feelings about them. After my success with the sugar cookies, people bought these purely because I was the one who brought them. They were good, but not my favorite.

After all the hard work I put into these all I wanted was to bite into them and be able to MMM and AHH! Too bad it didn’t happen. After a solid hour and a half of making these, and no wowza! Effect, I was ready to get out a bar of soap for inspiration, pen and paper. Me, choosing to fight against the impulsive being I am, waited to swallow. And that’s when the salty peanut butter and banana flavors melded! And boy was it good!!

Everyone I’d seen, like me, finished their whoopee pies, so I guess they couldn’t have been too terrible. But even after the last bite I wasn’t jumping to write any letters of recommendation over these. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose. I melded different recipes to make these since I hadn’t found any like what I wanted online. But I think with adaptation, these things could be really good!

Here’s the recipe if you want to try them or further adapt them…

Thoughts: these are sort of like a spongy banana cakes that are sandwiched with salty peanut butter frosting. The flavors went really nicely and the peanut butter taste surprisingly didn’t overwhelm the banana.

Tips: The last kinds of Whoopie Pies I made, I’d left them in too long and they became dry. I think I took these out too fast because they were still a little soft and the tops peeled. Even adjusting the baking time from what I post may make this recipe a keeper. – Piping the frosting onto one side of the Whoopie pie looks a lot cleaner than spreading with a knife.

 

 

 

 

Banana Whoopie Pies

Slightly adapted from Marth Stewert recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup mashed banana (about 2 normal sized bananas)

½ cup sour cream

1 stick butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed light-brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into separate bowl

Combine banana and sour cream in a separate bowl

Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high until creamy

Add egg and vanilla, beat until incorporated

Add banana mixture in 2 additions, alternate between flour mixture

Use a spoon or pastry bag to pipe balls-however small or large you want the cookies-onto parchment paper

Bake about 12 minutes, until edges are golden*

*-Do not leave out.

Now for one of my favorite frostings ever. It’s peanut butter so it was bound to be. Between my addiction to peanut butter and the amount of salt I pile on my popcorn at the movies, this was a sure match for me.

Salty Peanut Butter Frosting                                                                                                                         

Adapted from “Whoopie Pies”

1 cup peanut butter

1 ½ sticks butter

1 cup confectioners sugar

½ teaspoon salt

Beat peanut butter and butter in mixer until creamy

Add sugar and salt on low, increase to medium and beat until fully incorporated. *

Put into a piping bag and pipe a large amount onto the middle of the pie and lightly press the top onto it.

*If you like your frosting heavier, reduce the amount you beat it. If you like it really light, go crazy and beat the heck out of it!!- consistency wise this goes for all frostings.