Whoopie Pies

These, in my opinion, are more like soft cookies, or small cakes, instead of pies.

The photos shown below were taken way back in 2004 (payat pa ako nun). One picture shows my niece when I was receiving the lesson from my MIL and we were in my SIL's house then. The rest of the photos were during my first try to bake them.

Whoopie Pies are a favorite of my in-laws, and my husband gave me a Kitchen Aid standing mixer on our first Christmas together that I may learn how to make them for him. "You can never buy them the same from any store around," he says. And I guess the reason is that we use fresh egg whites for the creamy filling. The commercial ones taste like plain lard mixed with confectioner's sugar and vanilla (yuck!).

Caution: If you do not trust the freshness of the eggs, I do not recommend that you try this recipe. If you can get fresh eggs from a neighboring farm, then by all means, make these! (that is, if you are not allergic to eggs nor is your tummy squeamish)

Ingredients:
Filling -
2 1/4 cup shortening
6 cups confectioner's sugar
6 egg whites
3 tsp vanilla

Dough -
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
6 egg yolks
1 whole egg
2 cups milk + 2 tbsp vinegar
8 heaping tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
Filling -
1. Cream (beat together) the shortening and sugar well under moderate speed.
2. Add egg whites one at a time under slow setting, gradually increasing in speed until high.
3. When fluffy and forms soft peaks, turn speed to moderate then add vanilla and increase speed again until the right spreading consistency is achieved. Place in a ziploc bag then put inside the fridge until ready to use.

Dough -
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 deg F.
2. Cream the shortening and sugar first. Beat well.
3. Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Add eggs/egg yolks one at a time to the creamed sugar and shortening and beat on low going to medium until lemony creamy.
5. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk-vinegar mixture under low setting into the cream. Scrape bowl with spatula from time to time.
6. Add vanilla.
7. Place in ziploc bag. Cut one corner of the bag and squeeze out about 1 tbsp of dough onto baking pan lined with aluminum foil (makes it easier to change pans if you make bigger batches), 2 inches apart.
8. Bake for 10 minutes.
9. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.
10. Put the filling and sandwich between two cookies.
11. Refrigerate those which you will not consume right away. (Remember, there are raw egg whites there).