Whoopee Pies!

"Congress shall make no law... abridging... the right of the people peaceably to assemble..."

That’s one of the things that’s so great about this country of mine. The right to public assembly and peaceful protest. So obviously you’re thinking whoopee pies now, right?

Wait, what?

If you thought the above somehow linked protests and whoopee pies, you’d be right. Nutshell: Maine is thinking of making the whoopee pie their state dessert. PA goes, “say, what?” = Protest. I’m not even from here, but I know how near and dear the WP is to Pennsylvania’s heart. Naturally, I had to see this rally in Penn Square, just outside Central Market. Small to be sure, but it had plenty of delicious looking signs waving in the ohmygodCOLD breeze. And a news crew. Yep.

"You shall never take my Whoopie Pies!" cried man.

Most signs proudly displayed the WP icon, though one said “God hates Gobs” in reference to what some called the Pennsylvania Dutch term gob for whoopee pie. No one I know has ever heard them called that, but hey. My favorite sign, which sadly I didn’t get a picture of, retaliated by proposing we claim the Maine lobster as the PA state seafood. In your face, Maine.

So of course I had to make whoopee pies. Are you crazy? I had two recipes in mind and went full speed ahead. It also worked out nicely because they both called for shortening, and I’ve got a ton leftover from my Christmas molasses cookies.

Whoopie Pies!
From here

These tasted great. I was expecting the cookies to spread and round out as they baked, but be aware that they stay pretty much the same size. Also, if you want that perfect round top, you'll have to shape them. I just did the drop method and you can tell. Instead of all-purpose flour, I substituted all whole wheat and they came out great. Anywho, they were soft and STAYED soft, which is perfect.

Now, I was a bit leery in regards to the filling. It tasted like nothing more than sweetened Crisco. Granted, that's what it is, but that's not really tasty. However, once you sandwich those babies up, you won't regret it. I went easy on the filling because I'm really not into gobs (no pun intended) of icing, but it's up to you. Personally, I divided the icing in half and flavored one half with peanut butter and the other with an espresso/cappuccino mix. Another word to the wise, there's a ton of this stuff, so if you're going to go light, only make half the filling recipe.

Now, as awesome as these are, I've got to finish eating them now. Starting tomorrow, I'm taking a one month gluten-free challenge. Wish me luck!