Insight - Whoopie - By Michelle Libby

Last week the On the Spot question asked who makes your favorite whoopie pie. The answers varied from Wicked Whoopies to individual bakers in their home kitchens. 

I consider myself somewhat of a whoopie pie connoisseur. I’ve done taste tests to figure out the best filling that doesn’t use eggs or egg whites, checked out the best type of cake and if I can’t find it in the community, I’ll make them myself. 

I had been told about this mythical place in the county that has four pound whoopie pies that are exquisite. Of course I said, “I’ll be the judge of that,” but two years after I was told about these pies, I still hadn’t made it there. Feeling like I might never get the opportunity to sample these delights, I jumped at the opportunity to go to Grammy’s Country Inn in Linneus, just south of Houlton, over Labor Day weekend when my husband and I went up for a wedding. 

I ran into the tiny restaurant, grabbed three whoopie pies, two traditional and one peanut butter filled and after paying $4.25 each-ish for them, I stashed them in the car. 

I saved them for Monday to share at a friend’s birthday party because she’s a whoopie pie fan as well. After all the build up, I was praying that I wouldn’t be let down. I snuck a bit of the frosting and knew it would all be worth it. They were magical. Truly the size of my hand with my fingers stretched all the way out, plus some. The cakes had a bit of a hard time not cracking when put on the flat platter, but who cared. When it came time to eat them, no one noticed anything except for the amazing taste. 

Last year I came across a recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies that are easy to make and really hit the spot. There is a recipe below for pumpkin whoopies that is a combination of a few different recipes since I refuse to use raw eggs in the filling. This one uses cream cheese, which I have never used in filling before, so if you try them, let me know how they are. 

There are so many flavors of whoopie pies, choosing one can be challenging. I’m hoping someone finds one with apples for all of the apples coming in to the house this month, until then, happy eating. 

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ingredients

• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger

1/2 tablespoon ground cloves

3/4 cup butter (11/2 sticks), softened

2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 jar (7.5 oz.) marshmallow fluff.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
2. Combine the oil and brown sugar. Mix in the pumpkin and eggs, beating well. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix well.
3. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool, then make sandwiches from two cookies filled with whoopie pie filling.
4. Using clean beaters, beat together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and marshmallow cream on medium-high speed in until well blended.
5. Turn the cookies upside down matching them front one side and put a cover on it. Enjoy.