Whoopie Pies! Yum!

Today was my church's annual Mission Bazaar.  Apparently it's a pretty big event that they do every year.  They have handmade crafts, a bake sale, yard sale stuff, nicer second-hand stuff, a silent auction, breakfast and lunch food.  Last year they raised over $13,000 for local and world wide mission and relief groups.  (Don't yet know how well we did this year.)  Since Casey had to work today, I couldn't volunteer to help out during the bazaar, so tried to help out in other ways.  I spent a few mornings hanging out with all the old ladies helping them with the

Crocheted Headbands

crafts they were doing (you know, chatting about hearing aids and surgeries and doctors and which relatives were still alive - it was a great time!)  And I even contributed my own craft, these crocheted headbands.  I've never tried to sell any of my projects before, so this was a big step for me.  And I actually designed it myself, so I'm pretty proud of them.  Of course there are design and quality flaws, but that only proves they're really homemade, right?  I think someone even bought one!

So yesterday I spent the whole day cooking for the bake sale.  I've had experience cooking for a bake sale back in Winson-Salem when the absolutely wonderful Resident Spouse Association would have a bake sale to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House twice a year.  I've always enjoyed getting a chance to bake delicious yummies without having lots of sinfully caloric chocolate goodies sit around the house for days, which of course I have to eat before they go bad because I have absolutely no will power.  So with bake sales, I can bake up a storm, save a little for me and the fam and send the bulk of them away for a good cause.

I made my mom's favorite cinnamon bread, my favorite whoopie pies and my dad and Casey's favorite molasses cookies.  Coulson "helped" with a lot of the cooking.  Charlie tried to add tootsie rolls to the cinnamon bread and then sprinkled flour all over the counter and floor while emptying out the contents of my silverware drawer.  We all had a great day!

Anyway, the point of this post is to give you my favorite recipe.  When I was a kid my mom would make these for our classroom birthday parties instead of cupcakes!

WHOOPIE PIES

cookie

• 1/2 cup shortening or butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 cups flour
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Cream together shortening and sugar.
2. Add egg, flour and other dry ingredients.
3. Add milk and vanilla.
4. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet or sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.  (I use a cookie scoop, 1 scoop = kid size pie; 2 scoops = bake sale size)
5. Bake 7-8 minutes at 425 degrees.
6. Cool on cooling rack.

cream filling

• 1/4 cup shortening (crisco)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• half of a 7 oz jar of marshmellow cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• food coloring (optional)

1. Combine ingredients in mixer.  Beat until fluffy.
2. Add food coloring to coordinate with season or festivities!
3. Choose 2 cookies of similar size.  Spread filling on one cookie and top sandwich with the other cookie.

I usually wrap them individually in cellophane or in sandwich baggies.  They should be good at room temp for a couple days, but they also freeze wonderfully.  I stick them in my freezer and then pull one out when I want a special treat.  They thaw in a matter of minutes. Yummy!

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