Whoopie Pies

I remember buying Little Debbie and Hostess cakes for a quarter at the local liquor store. They were my daily treat that I would relish. My favorites were the brownies with walnuts, along with the zebra cakes and whoopie pies. I have made one of these on accident, that happens to be gluten free, vegan, and delicious! I wonder how Mrs. Hostess came up with her idea.

Let's make whoopie! Okay I have to start off by saying, I had no idea I was going to make whoopie pies...or something that looks and tastes like them. I was attempting to make a dense quinoa cake but things went terribly wrong. I made the batter as seen in the photos below, the whole time expecting that a dense beautiful cake would come out. 

I tried to make cupcakes and they failed. They rose really high, and then fell into themselves. The outsides cooked, but the insides never did. I messed around with temperatures and baking soda, but nothing made this dough into a cake. I was determined to figure out how to not waste this cake batter. 

I tried cooking it like pancakes on a greased pan. They just bubbled up and burnt, again. Then I tried one dollop on a mini cookie sheet, thinking maybe it will work like a cookie dough. And...it did! Although they don't taste like cookies or cake, they do taste good. I cooked the rest of the batter (about 12 cookie-sized dollops) at 300* for 20 minutes. I then let them cool for at least an hour before using a thin spatula to remove them from the sheet. 

I filled them with coconut whip and stuck a few in the freezer. They were delicious at room temperature and frozen. When frozen they taste almost like ice cream sandwiches. 

What You Need 

1 1/3 cups cooked quinoa

4 flax eggs, 1 cup flax meal + 1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup Earth Balance 

1/4 cup apple sauce 

1 cup agave nectar 

1 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

What You Do 

Set your oven to 300*. 

Mix your flax meal and water and set aside. Place cooked quinoa, earth balance, apple sauce, and agave in blender on medium speed. Add in flax eggs slowly and keep on high speed. 

While blending, mix your dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. After the wet ingredients are pureed, mix them with the cocoa mixture. Grease cookie sheet and place small dollops with an ice cream scoop. They will spread out, so don't make them too close. Cook for 15-20minutes.

They will slightly puff up when cooking. After the bottom of the dollops look solid, they are done. Place them on the counter, stove, or cooling rack for an hour. They will firm up and solidify. Use a thin spatula to peel them off. Place coconut whip in the center and top with another cookie. Enjoy now or freeze for a treat later. 

Question of the Day: Memory Lane

What was your favorite sweet treat growing up?