Kids in the Kitchen ~ Whoopie Pies

When I saw this recipe for Whoopie Pies with Pink Filling in our February 2011 Family Fun Magazine I knew we had to try them.  I have been thinking about what treat Emily is going to bring to school to share with her class on her Birthday.  I thought these would be fun and different than the cupcakes that we would usually make to bring in.   When I showed them to Emily she totally agreed.  So of course we needed to bake them and taste them!

Emily was able to do a lot of dumping, whisking and mixing. As she helped with just about every step of making the Whoopie Pies.

One they were all ready both Emily and Juliette helped put them together.  We didn’t have any red food coloring so Emily decided we could make these green and bring pink ones to school for her Birthday.

Emily approved!

Juliette snatched up a whole Whoopie Pie and took a bite before we could stop her!

Whoopie Pies

(From Family Fun Magazine, click here to see the recipe and pictures for each step)

Ingredients :

CAKES

• 2 cups flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup softened butter

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg

FILLING

• ½ cup softened butter
• 1½ cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup marshmallow crème
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Red food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a glass measuring cup or small bowl, stir together the buttermilk and vanilla extract.
3. In a large bowl with a hand mixer set at medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until evenly blended, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg, increase the speed to high, and beat until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute more.
4. Pour half the fl our mixture into the butter-sugar mixture, and beat at medium speed until combined. Add the buttermilk mixture and continue beating until just blended. Add the remaining fl our mixture and beat again.
5. Use a spoon to place a heaping tablespoon of batter on a prepared cookie sheet. Add more mounds of batter, evenly spacing them, until there are nine on each sheet. Slightly flatten each mound with a spoon.
6. Bake the cakes one sheet at a time for 10 minutes (they should be moist and spongy). Let them cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Reline the sheets and scoop, shape, and bake the remaining batter.
7. Using an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat all the filling ingredients except the coloring in a medium bowl until evenly blended, about 2 minutes. If you want to color the filling, fold in drops of food coloring until the desired tint is reached.
8. To make each pie, spoon and spread a heaping tablespoon of the filling onto the bottom of a cake, then gently press another cake on top.