JBug's Kitchen Antics: Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies

I've made a lot of whoopie pies in my day. You name the kind, it's been cooling in JBug's kitchen at some point.

Whoopie pies were the end of year reward for one of Big Guy's classes when they turned in their final essay aka take home exam. It started out as a lark when his class numbers were small but it wasn't such a lark at the end when he had over 75 students in the class. At least I only had to make 75 plus extras. He had to mark the essays.

Not wanting to lose the knack of making the things never mind I've two of these fancy pans to make the job easier along with the fact I needed something semi-wholesome to put into Big Guy's lunch, a carrot cake version seemed like a good idea. I found the recipe here and I'm writing it for you below because I did make a few changes - enough to warrant a re-write.

Tasting of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice, I pepped up the pecans by toasting them first because the flavor is really intensified to say nothing of the extra crunch. The result's pretty darned incredible, especially the maple cream cheese filling. It is absolutely amazing.

In case you're wondering whether I'd make any changes on the next go round - I have to be honest and say I'd leave out the coconut. It isn't that I don't like the stuff but just that I wasn't crazy about it in the "pies". Some well drained crushed pineapple would have been much more to my taste. Oh, and be sure to watch the cooking time because there can't be anything more sacrilegious than dry carrot cake. Just sayin'.

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies (from JBug’s Kitchen Antics adapted from bettycrocker.com and Baked Bree)

Cooking spray

2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup softened unsalted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1-1/2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Spray pans with cooking spray and set aside. In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time and scrape bowl down in between. Add vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat only until combined. Fold in carrots, coconut and nuts and mix only until combined. Using a 2 ounce scoop, drop batter into pans or onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Dip your fingers into cold water and flatten batter slightly in pans. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until just cooked. Do not over bake. Cool for 5 minutes, and then remove to wire racks and cool completely. To finish, place 2 tablespoons of maple cream filling in between 2 cookies to make a sandwich. Wrap and store in refrigerator or freeze. Makes 12 pies.

Maple Cream Filling:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 – 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons good quality maple syrup (I used B grade from Trader Joe’s)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat together salt and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add maple syrup and vanilla and beat well. Slowly add powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

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