Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

I did it! I finally made my own whoopie pies!

I decided on the peanut butter whoopie pie recipe from the book 'Whoopie Pies' by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell.

Ingredients:-

1 3/4 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temp)

4 tablespoons vegetable shortening (I used Stork margarine)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

(Method - see below)

I decided on two types of filling. I had found these two jars of Marshmallow Fluff in a local grocery shop so decided to try the classic Marshmallow filling.

Ingredients:-

1 1/2 cups of Fluff (or other prepared Marshmallow cream)

1 1/4 cups of vegetable shortening

1 cup icing sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method:-

1. Using an electric mixer beat together the Marshmallow Fluff and vegetable shortening until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.

2. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the icing sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined.

3. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until fluffy.

(WARNING: this filling is incredibly sweet and should probably be avoided if you are making these for someone who is diabetic or worried about tooth decay. But for the rest of us, it's delish!)

The second filling I made as you can probably guess from the picture above was a peanut butter one. I again decided to try the recipe from the book rather than my own recipe and I was slightly disappointed.

Ingredients:-

3/4 cups of peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

3/4 cups of unsalted butter (at room temp)

3/4 cups icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:-

1. Using an electric mixer beat together the peanut butter and butter on low speed until creamy

2. Add the icing sugar and salt until well mix and then increase speed until mixture is light and fluffy.

NOTE: I omitted the salt as I wanted a sweet frosting but even without the salt, the frosting was not as sweet as I would have liked.

Method for making Whoopie Pies:-

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit / Gas Mark 5. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt and leave to one side.

3. Using an electric mixer beat together the butter, shortening, brown sugar, peanut butter and vanilla until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time making sure to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides.

4. Add half of the flour mixture beating on a medium speed until just combined. Then add half of the buttermilk. Beat on medium speed until combined. Repeat with the remaining flour and buttermilk.

5. Using a spoon or a 2 tablespoon scoop drop about 2 tablespoon's worth of the mixture onto the baking sheets spacing them at least 2 inches apart.

6. Bake for about 18 minutes until cakes begin to brown at the edges and are firm to the touch. Allow cakes to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to a wire rack.

Okay, honest opinion, I was not blown away by them. The Whoopie Pies themselves were not sweet enough and with the peanut butter filling especially, tasted a little bit like a peanut butter sandwich. My neighbour Ollie agreed with me (although she did say they were still nice- thanks Ollie!) The ones filled with the marshmallow cream were much nicer. I didn't have enough time to pipe the filling on, and they looked a little bit messy.

Also, the pies themselves seemed a little flat to me. I think the addition of the peanut butter makes the mixture quite dense.

I think next time, it has to be chocolate or vanilla whoopies.
At the time of writing this- I was also amazed to see that M&S are now selling whoopie pies! There are three varieties- chocolate with a vanilla filling, vanilla with a chocolate filling and toffee whoopies with a toffee filling. I tried the chocolate ones and wasn't overly impressed. The ones Beks made were much nicer. Well, at least it means Whoopies have gone mainstream!!