Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

What does a baker do with leftovers?  We get creative.   I had on hand a bowl full of billowy, silky, chocolate goodness whipped up with no place to call home.  Buttercream.  What to do? What to do?   Then I thought, if I can use the buttercream to frost and fill my cakes, then it was sure good enough to stuff between too cookies.  So I thought why not try to bake, for the first time, some good old fashioned Whoopie pies.  As a Whoopie pie virgin I realized after reading the directions of this King Aurthur recipe that the mixing method of creaming and alternating dry ingredients with wet ingredients was going to make the final product taste more cake- like rather than a cookie. Such a pleasant surprise because I always thought Whoopie pies were more in the cookie family.  I didn't know one way or another what a Whoopie pie was but one thing I knew for sure, I found a home for my leftover buttercream.

The size cookie scoop you use determines the size Whoopie pie. 

I used a large scoop for big Whoopies!

Make some Whoopie

King Arthur Flour printable recipe

Chocolate chip Whoopie pies

1 cup (2 sticks 8 ounces) unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
3 large eggs
4 1/2 cups (19 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup (8 ounces) milk
2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips, optional

To make the cookies: In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, salt, vanilla, baking powder, and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour to the wet ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Do this gently; there’s no need to beat the batter. Stir in the chocolate chips at the end.
Using a muffin scoop, or a 1/4-cup measure, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Wet your fingers, and flatten and smooth each mound of dough to a circle about 3" across. Leave 2 to 2 1/2 inches between each cookie, for expansion.
Bake the cookies for 11 minutes, or until they’re barely set on top; they won’t have colored at all. Cool them on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

You can use any buttercream,frosting or even a whipped cream or custard filling to stuff your Whoopies.  Or you can use the filling from the printable recipe which I included below.

To make the filling: Place the chocolate chips, corn syrup, butter, and heavy cream into a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture is very hot. Stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Chill in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally, till the filling is cool room temperature. Remove from the fridge, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer until it lightens in color and thickens slightly. If the filling doesn’t lighten and thicken after several minutes of beating, chill for another 15 minutes, then beat again. Spread about 1/3 cup filling per cookie on half the cookies (it will feel like you’re piling it on; that’s precisely the point!). Work quickly, as the filling will start to harden. Sandwich the remaining cookies atop the filled ones. For best storage, wrap each pie individually in plastic wrap, and store at room temperature.