A little history on Chef SG: I was born in New England (Connecticut to be exact) and spent a good portion of my childhood growing up there. I’m fiercely proud of being a born New Englander. That being said, I’m ashamed to admit that in all of the years living in the region, I never once had a whoopie pie. For some of you that may not be a big deal, but whoopie pies have their origins in New England and it’s almost a right of passage in some areas to have one. I’m making up for lost time with this baby, though.
Chocolate, peanut butter and banana are one of the holy trinity flavor combinations in all of pastry. I’ve tried thinking of a solid combination of the three words to define it. Cho-pe-ba? Pea-choco-nana? Ban-oco-nut? I kinda like that last one. If you can think of a better name (and I’m sure you can), email it to me and I’ll update the blog post with my favorite submission! Whatever you call it, when done well, it’s the kind of thing that even someone who doesn’t love peanuts or maybe doesn’t love bananas will still get down on. I think this lil’ whoopie pie fits the bill.
step-by-step method
recipe card
chocolate whoopie pie
136g shortening
266g sugar
75g whole eggs
5g vanilla extract
150g buttermilk
15g baking soda
4.5g baking powder
62g hot water
175g all purpose flour
62g cocoa powder
3g salt
Bring the whole eggs and buttermilk to room temp. before getting started.
Combine and sift the all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder and reserve it to use later.
Combine the shortening, sugar, and salt and mix with a paddle attachment in a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 5min.
Add the whole eggs one at a time, allowing the mixture to fully emulsify before adding the next addition.
Add the buttermilk. At this point the mix will be very broken, because of an imbalance of water and fat. Not to worry!
A beautiful example of a broken batter. Adding the dry ingredients will stabilize the water and fat and bring the batter back into an emulsified (and smooth) state.
Add the sifted dry ingredients in two additions.
Heat the water until steaming and add to the batter, mixing until combined.
Add the batter to a piping bag with a 12-14mm round piping tip.
Pipe rounds onto a sheet pan lined with a non-stick baking mat or parchment paper. I like to make mine about 1.75in in diameter. Don’t get greedy with space on the pan, these babies spread.
Bake at 350F for 8-10min., rotating the pan halfway through the bake.
After they’ve cooled, loosen the whoopie pie shells from the baking mat with an offset spatula.
peanut butter banana frosting
113g butter unsalted
125g powdered sugar
2g salt*
5g vanilla extract
125g peanut butter
90g banana
*If you use processed peanut butter (skippy, jif, etc. you can safely omit the salt. Those peanut butters will have a lot already)
If you want a frosting that is smooth throughout, without any little bits of banana, then mash the banana to a pulp before getting started.
Combine all the ingredients and mix in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 3-5min. Scrape the mixing bowl thoroughly half-way through mixing.
assembly
Match the cooled whoopie pie shells by size (also known as “marrying” them).
Line the pairs up in a row with one shell face up and one face down.
Using a piping bag and a 12-14mm round piping tip, pipe a dollop of filling in the center of each face up shell.
Place the halves together and press, giving a slight twist, until the filling spreads to the edges of the shell evenly. Whoopie pie shells are soft so will need some extra support.
Place the whoopie pies in the fridge to allow the frosting to set so they’re easier to handle and finish. At this point you have a perfectly awesome whoopie pie, but if you’d like to go one step further, read on to see how to give it a peanutty chocolate shell!
chocolate peanut shell
150g peanuts
500g milk chocolate Guittard Eclipse du Soleil 41%
110g cocoa butter optional
Place the filled whoopie pies in the freezer for 10min. to chill before dipping.
Roast the peanuts at 350F for 6-8min. Cool the nuts and rough chop. I give the chopped nuts a shake in a fine colander (not a sifter) to get rid of any nut flour or pieces that are too tiny.
Melt and combine the chocolate and cocoa butter, then temper the mixture.
Fold the chopped nuts into the tempered chocolate.
Secure a whoopie pie using the end of a paring knife, and dip it in the chocolate mixture.
Pull the covered whoopie pie out and let some of the excess chocolate and nuts fall off.
Gently place the whoopie pie on a sheet of parchment paper and let it set fully.
- 136 g shortening
- 266 g sugar
- 75 g whole eggs
- 5 g vanilla extract
- 150 g buttermilk
- 15 g baking soda
- 4.5 g baking powder
- 62 g hote water
- 175 g All-purpose flour
- 62 g cocoa powder
- 3 g salt
- 113 g butter unsalted
- 125 g powdered sugar
- 2 g salt
- 5 g vanilla extract
- 125 g peanut butter
- 90 g banana
- 150 g peanuts raw and unsalted
- 500 g milk chocolate Guittard Eclipse du Soleil 41%
- 110 g cocoa butter optional
- Bring the whole eggs and buttermilk to room temp. before getting started. Combine and sift the all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder and reserve it to use later.
- Combine the shortening, sugar, and salt and mix with a paddle attachment in a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 5min.
- Add the whole eggs one at a time, allowing the mixture to fully emulsify before adding the next addition.
- Add the buttermilk. At this point the mix will be very broken, because of an imbalance of water and fat. Not to worry!
- Add the sifted dry ingredients in two additions.
- Heat the water until steaming and add to the batter, mixing until combined.
- Add the batter to a piping bag with a 12-14mm round piping tip.
- Pipe rounds onto a sheet pan lined with a non-stick baking mat or parchment paper, giving ample space between rounds to allow for spreading during baking.
- Bake at 350F for 8-10min., rotating the pan halfway through the bake.
- After they shells have cooled, loosen them from the baking mat with an offset spatula.
- For a smooth frosting, mash the banana to a pulp before getting started.
- Combine all the ingredients and mix in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 3-5min. Scrape the mixing bowl thoroughly half-way through mixing.
- Match the cooled whoopie pie shells by size (also known as “marrying” them).
- Line the pairs up in a row with one shell face up and one face down.
- Using a piping bag and a 12-14mm round piping tip, pipe a dollop of filling in the center of each face up shell.
- Place the halves together and press, giving a slight twist, until the filling spreads to the edges of the shell evenly. Whoopie pie shells are soft so will need some extra support.
- Place the whoopie pies in the fridge to allow the frosting to set so they're easier to handle and finish.
- Place the filled whoopie pies in the freezer for 10min. to chill before dipping.
- Roast the peanuts at 350F for 6-8min. Cool the nuts and rough chop. I give the chopped nuts a shake in a fine colander (not a sifter) to get rid of any nut flour or pieces that are too tiny.
- Melt and combine the chocolate and cocoa butter, then temper the mixture.
- Fold the chopped nuts into the tempered chocolate.
- Secure a whoopie pie using the end of a paring knife, and dip it in the chocolate mixture.
- Pull the covered whoopie pie out and let some of the excess chocolate and nuts fall off.
- Gently place the whoopie pie on a sheet of parchment paper and let it set fully.
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