Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Looking at the Wikipedia article on Whoopie Pies, I was most amused to read that one of the theories behind the name was that Amish farmers would often shout out "Whoopie!" when discovering their wives had packed these treats for them.
Strangely enough, opening a container full of these at recess caused a very similar reaction from one of my friends. Well, there goes any ideas I had about evolution...
So anyways, as you probably have guessed (what gave it away?), whoopie pies were my latest venture into the baking world. Made in the form of a biscuit with a cakey texture and sandwiched with a filling, whoopie pies first came to my attention after watching Dani cook them on Masterchef (I can't remember exactly what happened, but the internet says they failed HAW HAW...yeah, I didn't like her very much).
Ahem moving on. So yes, I decided I would finally give them a go. They turned out just as described and were tasty without being too sweet. I was also very impressed with how the mixture puffed up into perfect circles after being put in the oven, and there were only a couple of mismatched halves left after I had finished icing them (I felt like some strange cake matchmaker, seeking out similar-sized halves to stick together).
A dash of sprinkles and voila! Wonderfully woeful* whoopie pies.
Here's the recipe. I tend to make icing based on observations (read: whatever feels right)  rather than measurements from a recipe, but I've included the Donna Hay filling recipe so there's something to follow should any readers feel the urge to bake them. I also used milk chocolate instead of white chocolate, as that's all I had in the house.
Also, the dough will be very, very sticky. I had to re-wet my hands in between every few spoonfuls, so it does get a little tedious, but it's nothing unhandleable (that's totes a word...), I promise.

(Adapted from Donna Hay's Rainbow Whoopie Pies recipe) 

Whoopie Pies

For the pies:

•  250g soft butter
• 175g (1 cup) brown sugar
• 165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 375g (2½ cups) plain flour, sifted
• 50g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder  

 For the filling:

• 150g marshmallows
• 30g butter, cubed
• 60g white chocolate, broken into pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees and line two large baking trays with greased baking paper.
2. Beat the caster sugar, brown sugar and butter with an elecric mixer on medium speed until pale and creamy.
3. Add in the eggs, one at a time, and mix until just combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
5. With damp/wet hands, roll one heaped teaspoon-ful of mixture into a ball and place on baking paper, flattening slightly.
6. Repeat with remaining mixture, ensuring enough space around each ball to flatten and spread once in the oven.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of pies.
8. Allow to cool in trays for five minutes before peeling them off the paper and allowing to cool on a wire rack.
9. Once pies have completely cooled, prepare the icing. Melt the butter and marshmallows in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until completely smooth.
10. Once cooled, stir in chocolate until a smooth, sticky mixture has been formed.
11. Pair similar-sized pies and sandwich with icing. If desired, roll in a shallow plate of sprinkles.

 Now enjoy a lovely photo of Minoli and I enjoying some good ol' whoopie pies. :D 

 

* Yeah, they weren't actually "woeful." I just like alliterating...