Whoopie Pies

It was one fateful day in Intercourse, PA when I stumbled across the most delicious Amish dessert in the history of all time: the whoopie pie.  While it comes in different cake and filling flavors, the best and, therefore, most sought after is the chocolate cake with vanilla cream filling.  Delectable.  There is a little bakery in Bird-in-Hand, PA that makes the best whoopie pies ever.  The filling is so light and fluffy.  Scrumptious.  Since that fateful day I have dreamed about making whoopie pies and I have finally done it!  At the urging and encouragement of a lactose-free colleague, I made these wonderful whoopie pies.  I got the recipe directly from Amish country (the Lancaster county webpage!).  The dough was pretty much like cake batter but a little stiffer.  I put it in the fridge for awhile while I went out and it worked just fine as well.  Pictures of the process got lost in the shuffle but just wait until you see the results!

Here are the chocolatey cakes.  I used rice milk instead of dairy milk.  I didn't actually try one at this point because I needed an even number of cakes to make the sandwich cookies.  I just hoped beyond hope that they would be delicious.  

Here are the finished whoopie pies with cream inside.  I'm not entirely happy with the filling though.  It tasted tasty but it was not the perfect consistency of the Amish pies I'm so fond of.  Next time I will try a different recipe for the filling. 

The finished product: I felt compelled to package them the way the Amish bakeries do: with cellophane wrappers.  I figured this would be easier for my co-workers who would be enjoying them.  

And now what you have all been waiting for: the mess.  The gigantor mess that resulted in the production of these cookies.  No surface in my kitchen was safe from the chocolatey goodness of these cookies.  Crumbs everywhere, millions of dishes and bowls used to make the dough and filling, utensils in the most crazy places: it was neverending and here are the pictures to prove it.  Everything except the egg pan on the stove was a result of my baking obsession, but it was so worth it!  It took just 30 minutes to clean the kitchen and table. 

P.S. My co-workers loved my whoopie pies.  I love the happiness that surrounds baked goods and the sharing of said goods.