Recipes

Hello, Whoopie: An American Pie

Posted 4/29/2011

Whoopee for whoopie pie cookies you can make at home.

(NAPSI) - Here’s something to cheer about: Food experts say Whoopie Pies are the hottest dessert around these days. What’s more, making your own can be easy and fun to do, when Lisa A. Sheldon, MS, author of the “Olive Oil Baking” cookbook, shows you how:

Whoopie Pie Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

⅓ cup Pompeian Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup baking cocoa, sifted

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. instant coffee powder

Filling:

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1−2 Tbsp. milk

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In mixing bowl, beat sugar and olive oil until crumbly. Add eggs and beat until mixture is light and thickened. In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In small bowl, combine milk, vanilla and coffee powder. Add milk mixture and dry ingredients alternately to sugar mixture and stir until smooth and well combined.

Cover and refrigerate cookie dough for 1−2 hours. With lightly floured hands, roll dough into 2-inch balls. Place cookies at least 2” apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 375° F for 12−14 minutes or until tops are cracked. Cool for 3 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool.

Filling: In mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar. Beat in milk and vanilla extract until fluffy.

Assembly: Place about 1−2 tablespoons of filling on the flat bottom of cooled whoopie pie and top with another whoopie pie to make a sandwich.

By using olive oil, you can be sure the cookies are moist and delicious and lower in saturated fat and cholesterol than when you bake with butter. In fact, you can use Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil for all your baking needs, as well as for sautéing vegetables and with seafood, without significantly changing taste.

A tablespoon of olive oil contains only about one-third of the saturated fat of a tablespoon of butter, only 2g saturated fatty acid (compared to butter’s 7g) and no cholesterol. According to Sheldon, “Olive oil is a smart choice for increasing your intake of monounsaturates.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new Dietary Guidelines seem to agree. They urge people to cut back on saturated fats and suggest switching from butter to oils derived from plant sources.

For more recipes, including one for healthful and flavorful carrot cake whoopie pies, visit www.pompeian.com or “like” the company on Facebook.