S'mores Whoopie Pies

S'mores (sigh.....) how I love you so!  I know it's January and supposedly winter time (you wouldn't know it with the temperature reaching 68 degrees this week) but I have been thinking a lot about s'mores and summertime campfires.  Thinking about s'mores led to thinking about what else you can do with s'mores ingredients, which led to recipes for s'mores cupcakes, s'mores pancakes and yes, even s'mores whoopie pies!  Whoopie pies are pretty big right now and there are all kinds of recipes out there but I don't trust just any old recipe, I want the best.  Quite a while back the browneyedbaker.com did a s'mores whoopie pie recipe that she found in a cookbook titled "Whoopie Pies".  The recipe looked pretty easy and the pictures looked yummy so I gave it a try.

Graham flour....pain in the "you-know-what" to find!  Safeway used to carry it but not today when I needed it.  So I got a little creative and substituted graham cracker crumbs for the graham flour.  My cookies taste fabulous and are still soft and fluffy!    I will keep looking for the graham flour but, honestly, I don't imagine these cookies could get much better!  As long the graham crackers are crushed very fine and you add that little bit of vegetable shortening (Yes, you have to use it to add that puffiness to the cookies!  You will live, I promise) your cookies will be soft and delicious!

I wasn't really excited about the "marshmallow" frosting that they filled their cookies with in the cookbook so I decided to use my ever-so-perfect 7 minute frosting recipe.  It is just like eating homemade marshmallow fluff (only better)!!   I also changed the chocolate ganache filling to include half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate chips.  Feel free to play around with this recipe on your own and let me know if you have any new ideas to improve it!  I personally think they are pretty close to perfect.  They are also extremely messy and the marshmallow filling is gooey and sticky!   Make sure you have a wet washcloth on hand (or a garden hose) to clean you up when you are finished!  

Enjoy!

S'mores Whoopie Pies

Graham Cracker Cookie:

1½ cups graham flour (can substitute finely crushed graham crackers)

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 tablespoons vegetable shortening

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

½ cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon white vinegar1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir together both flours, baking powder, and salt.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, shortening and brown sugar until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and the buttermilk and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup, combine the milk, baking soda, and vinegar. Add the milk mixture to the batter along with the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Add the vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until completely combined.

Using a small scoop, drop about 1 tablespoon of batter onto one of the prepared baking sheets and repeat, spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for about 8 minutes each, or until the cakes begin to brown. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

For the Chocolate Ganache Filling:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (or 4 ounces semisweet and 4 ounces milk choc)

½ cup heavy cream

Put the chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat just until it bubbles. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate in the bowl and let it sit for about 10 minutes, until the chocolate is melted. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until smooth. Allow the mixture to rest at room temperature until firm enough to spread, about 2 hours. You may also refrigerate the mixture for about 30 minutes, until it is firm enough to spread, stirring every 10 minutes.

Marshmallow filling (7-minute frosting):

½ cups sugar

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup water

2 egg whites

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Place all ingredients, except vanilla, in top of a double boiler.  Place pan over boiling water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan.  Beat constantly on high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes.  Remove from heat and beat in vanilla.

Assemble the Whoopie Pies:

Spread a layer of chocolate ganache filling onto the flat side of one of the cakes.  Top the ganache with a spoonfull of the marshmallow filling. Top it with another cake, flat-side down.

Adapted from browneyedbaker.com