Whoopie Pies

This wonderful little pies were easy to make and fun to assemble. The sandwich part lies somewhere between a cookie and a cake or brownie and the inside is marshmallow of course! My only complaint is that the recipe said I would end up with 18 sandwiches and I only got 12. I suppose I could have made them slightly smaller but the marshmallow to sandwich ratio seems prefect as is so I think that had I made the cookies any smaller there would have been to much marshmallow and too little sandwich. Next time I intend to double the batter. I may also do some experimenting next time too. Right after the pie is assembled and the marshmallow is still soft it would be fun to roll the sides in candy cane bits, graham cracker bits, nuts or whatever else strikes your fancy. I followed the recipe exactly, though some of the comments posted said they had used all semisweet chocolate rather than a combo so that is an option too. My one word of advice is to stir this one by hand. I generally like to use my Kitchenaid for everything but for this I resisted. Some of the reviewers mentioned that their cookies ended up flat and hard rather than fluffy and soft, this in combination with the recipe saying "take care not to over-mix" told me to skip the mixer and make sure my pies ended up fluffy. These truly do only take a minute to mix anyways so the mixer really is unnecessary. This recipe is from the Food Network website.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup natural cocoa powder, such as Hershey's or Scharffen Berger
• 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons fine salt
• 18 large marshmallows, (not minis)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet.

Put the unsweetened and semisweet chocolates and butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl; heat at 75 percent power until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir, and continue to microwave until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. (Alternatively, put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching the water, and stir occasionally until melted and smooth.)

Whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla into the chocolate mixture until smooth.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into another bowl. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until moistened. Switch to a rubber spatula and finish folding the batter together; take care not to over-mix.

Use a small cookie scoop or spoon to drop a heaping tablespoon of batter onto the prepared pan. Repeat to make 36 cookies, spacing them about 1-inch apart. Bake until the cookies spring back when lightly touched, about 6 minutes.

Cool the cookies slightly. Transfer half of the cookies to a rack. Turn the remaining cookies on the pan over, so they lay flat side up. Place a marshmallow on top of each flipped cookie and return pan to the oven. Cook just until the marshmallow begins to soften and puff, about 3 minutes. Cool marshmallow topped cookies slightly, about 2 minutes. Top with the remaining cookies, pressing lightly to make sandwiches. Cool whoopee pies completely on wire racks. Serve.

Store in tightly sealed container for up to 1 week.