Whoopie Pies -- An Amish Comfort Food

A long weekend off from school and work usually finds me in the kitchen, whipping up some comfort foods for my kids and their friends as I settle into the culinary role of a gourmet cook with a lifetime of Amish recipes to pull out of my apron pocket.  On the surprise menu today were Whoopie Pies, which are my kids's number one favorite, and which I don't make very often. In fact, as my son was stuffing his face with the soft chocolate confection, vanilla cream oozing from the side of his mouth, he informed me this was the first time I had made them in 3 years.  It makes sense that my statistic-spouting son would keep track of the number of appearances his favorite sweet would make on our table.

Legend has it that the Whoopie Pie originiated among the Amish in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and were made by the women to pack in lunchboxes for the farm workers.  Whenever the famers would open their boxes to eat their lunch and would see the little chocolate pies, they would yell, "Whoopee!"  And that's where the name Whoopie Pie came from. 

Here's the recipe, for those of you who would like to try a taste of Amish goodness at your table:
   
4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cocoa
Mix these dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

1 cup milk, with one 2 tsp. vinegar mixed in to make it sour.  Set aside.
1 cup boiling water, mixed with 2 tsp. soda.  Set aside.

1 cup of shortening or butter
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar, add eggs and beat.  Add dry ingredients to above mixture alternately with milk, vanilla, and water.  Drop onto cookie sheets and bake (one heaping tablespoon of mixture per cookie).  Bake at 350 for 5 minutes on  lower rack of oven, then 5 minutes on top rack of oven.  Cool, then make into sandwich cookies, using cream mixture in the middle.

Vanilla Creme:
Mix together:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Cook 5 tablespoons flour and 1 cup milk on medium heat until thickened.  Remove from heat and cool.  Cream well with above ingredients, then spread generously onto cookies.