Whoopie Pies

I think Whoopie pies are my new favorite thing to make... they are delicious soft cakey cookies filled with a sticky gooey creamy filling..... Yum!!! They kind of remind me of  "moon pies" only smaller and what's better than being homemade??? I found several different recipes, but this one is the first I tried, it's a classic Whoopie Pie... I did the variation for the filling and added peanut butter to it, but you can just make the Marshmellow cream filling like the original recipe. Enjoy with a tall glass of milk!

Classic Chocolate Whoopie Pies
1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Preheat to 375°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium size bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, shortening and brown sugar on low speed until just combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes.
Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk to the batter and beat on low until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining flour mixture and the remaining ½ cup milk and beat until completely combined.
Using a spoon, drop about 1 tablespoon of batter onto one of the prepared baking sheets; repeat, spacing the rounds at least 2 inches apart.  Flatten the dough a little with the back of your spoon so the cookies aren't so puffy, and you can also make them more circular while you are doing this.
Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes each, or until the rounds spring back when pressed gently. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

For filliling:
Marshmellow Creme Filling
6 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 (7 oz) jar Marshmallow creme
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 Tablespoons milk , if necessary

In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat the butter until smooth. Reduce speed to low; gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in marshmallow creme and vanilla until smooth. (if your filling is really stiff and on the dry side add 1 to 2 Tablespoons milk and beat till smooth) You want your filling spreadable so you don't crumble the cookies but not runny.

To assemble whoopie pies, spread about 1 tablespoon filling on flat side of 1 cookie, then top with another cookie. Continue until all cookies are filled and topped. I got about 34 cookies total which made 17 Whoopie pies.
YUMALICIOUS!

For variation add peanut butter to your filling! I made by decreasing the butter to 2 Tablespoons softened butter, and added 6 tablespoons Peanut Butter, and then added the rest of the ingredients like the Marshmellow cream filling recipe. Who doesn't LOVE chocolate and Peanut butter!