Molasses Whoopie Pies

Did you know the fourth Saturday in June is the official Maine Whoopie Pie Day? It's true!! Whoopie for Whoopie Pies!!

It is our son Sam's 20th birthday. I wanted to bake something special for him but he is tricky to please. I love food! I love the variety of flavors, colors, aromas & textures. For those very same reasons that I love it, Sam views it as a mine field. He tries to avoid as much variety as he can. He has very strict ideas about what "tastes" good. One flavor he does love is molasses.

When I saw the artical "Whoopie Do" in the June issue of Down East magazine featuring Nellie Moody Jones' Molasses Whoopie Pie recipe I new he would love these and that they would make a nice alternative to the traditional birthday cake.

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 teaspoon shortening
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup hot, strong coffee

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.) Combine and cream the sugar, shortening, and salt. Add the eggs, molasses, and vinegar, and mix well.

3.) In a separate bowl, (I sifted right into the first bowl) sift together the flour, cinnamon, and ginger and stir into batter. Dissolve baking soda in hot coffee and add to remaining ingredients.

4.) Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet (I used parchment paper) and bake 15 minutes. Cool and fill with marshmallow filling.

Filling Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 4 Tablespoons Marshmallow Fluff
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• milk, as needed to achieve spreadable consistency
  

5.) To make the filling: combine the shortening, Marshmallow Fluff, sugar, and milk and eat thoroughly, using just enough milk to make frosting spreadable.

These are delicious! I love the "old fashionedness" of this recipe. You don't need a Kitchen Aid mixer, just a large bowl and a wooden spoon.

The recipe says it makes 8 to 12 whoopies. Um.....using the "rounded teaspoon" I made over 40. Yep, and the recipe for filling? I had to triple it to have enough filling for all those whoopie cakes. Other than that I loved baking with this recipe. We had enough for sharing at our son's 20th birthday and I was able to fill a tupperware container with enough for him to take home for his lunchbox all week. (A little Momma love everday, all week!)

As you can imagine we gave this recipe 5 spoons!

Go ahead! Make a little whoopie!