It's the season for making WHOOPIE...

…Whoopie Pies that is.

My friend, Barb, alerted me to an article the New York Times put out for these tasty morsels called Whoopie Pies. Of course now that the New York Times has put out an Amber Alert on these suckers I’m sure they’re going to pop up all over the place or die a quick, painless death. Either way, I thought I’d try my hand at them. This was Penny’s first recipe since the incident. She performed quite well.

I used the recipe that was linked with the Time’s article, with some minor adjustments. So here’s our take on the Gluten Free Whoopie Pie with Peanut Butter Buttercream.

For the cakes:
1 stick butter (I’d zap it for a little bit so it’s soft)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cups of Sorghum Flour
2/3 cups of Tapioca Flour
2/3 cups of Brown Rice Flour
1 ½ teaspoon Xanthan Gum
½ cup Cocoa powder
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until light and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking soda, salt, gluten free flours, xanthan gum, and cocoa. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk, and combining well after each addition.

Line a baking sheet (or a couple) with parchment paper. Use a spoon (or ice cream scoop) and scoop out 18 mounds of batter. I made thick cakes, next time I will make them a little thinner, and therefore have more of them. Make an even number because it’s a sandwich pie.

Bake until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched. Mine took about 18 minutes in my little renal oven. But I’d keep an eye on them, they may take anywhere from 12-18 minutes. Bake until the cakes puff up a little and spring back when touched.

Remove from oven and cool completely before filling.

Peanut Butter Buttercream Filling
8 tablespoons butter
1 cup of Creamy Peanut Butter
1 ¼ cup of sifted powdered sugar

Beat peanut butter and butter together. Add powdered sugar in, a little at a time. It will be delicious!

Assemble:
Using a spoon or a spatula take a big wallop of peanut butter buttercream on the flat side of each cake and spread to the edges, you can make it as thick or as thin as you’d like and sandwich two sides together.

Whoopie!