Chocolate Sandwiches

I need to start this entry with a confession.  I ate four of these cookies for breakfast yesterday morning.  Yes, FOUR.  I'm not prone to that type of sugar crazed bingeing, but this cookie is just that good.  It had been so long since I'd had them that I didn't remember how fantastic they are - the results really blew me away.  Gram didn't make these very often, maybe because they have a couple of steps and take a bit longer to make than a standard cookie does, or maybe because she had the same binging problem I did and just didn't want the temptation!

TO WHOOPIE OR NOT TO WHOOPIE?
I knew that I needed to get these cookies out of my house so I took a couple of plates to friends.  One commented that they looked like cute little mini Whoopie Pies.    Although I grew up in the Western U.S., I knew that Whoopie Pies are an East Coast tradition - Maine and Pennsylvania fight over where the Whoopie orginates from (see info on the origin controversy here) - it got me wondering about how close to a Whoopie Pie was this?

As it turns out, very close - there are small differences in the cookie recipe - Gram's calls for both baking powder and soda, white sugar rather than brown, and 1/2 C of cocoa rather than 1/4 as the majority of traditional Whoopie Pie recipes do.  It seems that the filling has a singular ingredient that makes them special - marshmallow fluff.   Gram's filling recipe calls for a bit more powdered sugar and some milk which I didn't see in any Whoopie Pie recipes I found.  There is more Whoopie Pie history here - it's pretty interesting.

I never heard of Whoopie Pies until I moved to the East Coast a decade ago, so I'll stick to calling Gram's version Chocolate Sandwiches, or better yet, what my Brother and I used to call them - "Homemade Oreos".  That isn't technically the most accurate description since the chocolate part of the cookie is really like cake rather than a crisp biscuit, but hey, we were five.

With Halloween coming up I thought these would be cute with a little orange food coloring added to the filling.  Along that vein, you could add green for St. Patrick's Day, maybe even adding some mint extract.  Enjoy the possibilities!

CHOCOLATE SANDWICHES
1/2 C shortening (I used margarine)
1 C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 C whole milk
2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C cocoa

FILLING
1/2 C shortening (I used butter)
2 C powdered sugar
1 C marshmallow whip (sometimes called "fluff" or "creme")
1 tsp vanilla
1 T whole milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Using the whisk attachment for either a stand or handheld mixer (this is a batter rather than a dough), cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, then add egg and mix until fully incorporated.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  Add flour mixture in two parts to butter mixture, alternating with milk until batter is thoroughly mixed.  Add vanilla.   Using 1" scoop, drop batter 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet, keeping keep batter drops as round and similar in size as possible.   Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, let cool on sheet before moving to cooling rack.

To make filling, cream shortening and powdered sugar with stand or handheld mixer on low speed.  Add marshmallow whip, milk and vanilla, beating until fully combined.  Spread generous amount of filling on cookie bottom and put together to make sandwiches.   Makes about 2 1/2 dozen sandwich cookies.