First Attempt at Whoopie Pies (Wheat Free with a Dairy Free Option)

 There is now a new and improved post about Whoopie Pies here.

Today, I present to you a recipe several months in the making! Behold my own take on the American classic, Whoopie Pies!

About two or three years ago, I got a new cookery book for my birthday, which is a typical gift for me. This book, simply entitled Whoopie Pies introduced me properly to a confection that I had only heard of by name once or twice. I tried a recipe or two from the book, but wasn't a hundred percent happy with how they turned out and, as such, the book is still gathering dust on my bookshelf. 

Then a few months ago I was watching a programme on Food Network, and I saw the cook make some chocolate whoopie pies. It had been quite some time since I had last tried them and I thought Heck, why not give them another go? Seeing as the cook described them as a "mixture between a cupcake and a sandwich cookie", that's the kind of approach I took: I tried merging my basic sponge cake recipe and my chocolate chip cookie recipe together, but the results were disappointingly flat and crispy.

The real breakthrough came when I merged my basic sponge recipe with a basic scone recipe, and replacing the butter with oil: it made a very fluid mixture that puffed up nicely, but didn't spread out too much during baking. The result is a cake that has all the fluffiness and sweetness of a sponge cake, but the sturdiness of a biscuit. However, I'll probably work on this recipe in the future, because I generally am not a fan of the fact that this only uses brown sugar: I don't want my plain vanilla whoopie pies to be brown!

These lovely little sandwiches go slightly sticky on the crust the longer they stay in storage, which is ideal: I have it on good, American authority that a whoopie pie should somewhat stick to your fingers. 

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DIFFICULTY

Requires mixing and spooning out runny batter

TIME

About 2 hours

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

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INGREDIMENTS

For 12 to 14 sandwiches (24 to 28 total cakes)

8 ounces (225 grammes, 1.8 US cups) plain white spelt flour

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) baking powder

¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) salt

6 ounces (170 grammes, 1 US cup) brown sugar

4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres, ½ US cup) sunflower oil

1 medium (US large) egg

6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres, ¾ US cup) buttermilk, or plain soya yoghurt

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

About 1 pound (455 grammes) icing filling of your choice: butter cream, ganache, marshmallow fluff, etc.

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F, Gas Mk.3), and grease and flour two flat baking trays.
• In a large mixing bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the centre.
• In a jug, beat together the buttermilk, egg, oil, and vanilla essence until smooth. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients then, using a balloon whisk or electric mixer, mix together until there are no streaks of flour and the mixture is smooth and consistent.
• Drop teaspoonfuls of the mixture on the baking trays, about an inch (2 centimetres) apart, using the tip of the spoon to smooth the dollops into rounds. Tap the trays sharply on the work surface to flatten out the pies. I got about 6 on each tray.
• Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven when the pies spring back when touched lightly with a finger.
• Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring from the trays to wire cooling racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
• Pair the cakes together according to size, then sandwich together with about two tablespoons of filling. Set in the fridge for about half an hour before serving.

NOTES

• For chocolate whoopie pies: Replace an eighth of the flour with cocoa powder, and sieve in with the other dry ingredients.

• For red velvet whoopie pies: Replace a tablespoon (30 millilitres) of the flour with cocoa powder and sieve with the dry ingredients, and add red food colouring to the wet ingredients to get the shade you want.

• For pumpkin spice whoopie pies: Add in 1 or 2 tablespoons (15 or 30 millilitres) to taste of your favourite pumpkin spice or mixed spice blend, and sieve in with the other dry ingredients.

• For coffee whoopie pies: Add 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) of instant espresso powder, and sieve in with the other dry ingredients

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