Whoopie!

Being from Arkansas I have absolutely no business making whoopie pies but Robyn , one of my favorite bloggers (and native Mainer), has raved about the whoopie pie in the past and so I decided to give it a shot.

It all started with a recipe for Chocolate Malt Sandwiches I found in the Food Network magazine. I loved the idea of a cookie with a malt flavor so I tried it and it was a bust. It just didn't live up to what I thought it would taste like. Plus, the directions for the cookie part were rather involved. But I didn't want to give up on it so I decided to keep the recipe for the filling but look for a better cookie. That led me Robyn's recipe from Marjorie Standish's book Cooking Down East. I combined the two for a really great, non-traditional whoopie pie--a white chocolate malt whoopie pie!

White Chocolate Malt Whoopie Pie (adapted from Food Network Magazine and Marjorie Standish's recipe found here)

Cookie:

1/2 c shortening
1 c sugar
2 egg yolks
5 T cocoa
2 c flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 c milk
1 t vanilla

Cream together shortening and sugar. Add yolks. Sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and add alternately to creamed mixture with milk and vanilla. Using a cookie scoop, drop batter onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

Filling:

8 oz white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup malted milk powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream

In a large bowl, mix together chocolate, malted milk powder, salt and vanilla. Heat cream over medium heat in a saucepan and then pour over chocolate mixture. Stir until smooth and chocolate is melted. Refrigerate until cold. Beat with a mixer for several minutes until fluffy. Assemble whoopie pies in sandwich fashion and wrap individually with plastic wrap.

I know you'll be tempted to try one but they really do taste much better after hanging out in the fridge for awhile.