Whoopie Pies

Cookies:

4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 cup Crisco
2 eggs
1 cup cocoa

Cream sugar, Crisco, and eggs. Add vanilla and the dry ingredients EXCEPT FOR BAKING SODA and alternate with buttermilk. When all is mixed, dissolve soda in the boiling water and add to dough. Mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until just set.

Traditional Filling:

2 egg whites
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup Crisco

Whip ingredients until fluffy. Put between cooled cookies to form sandwiches. Store in refrigerator.


Comments: Ok, well....I think the traditional frosting is gross. So, I used cream cheese frosting instead, and they were pretty spiffy. I also didn't have to store them in the fridge. I toyed with using the chocolate fudge buttercream that's in my cupboard, but I didn't want to over-do it :) Anyhoo, the dough is more like a cake batter, and these cookies bake like a cake. I had to pull them right at 8 minutes, before they started to crack. Allow them to cool a little first before taking them off the sheet or parchment paper--too hot and they will stick to the paper and you'll lose half the bottom of the cookie. This is a really chocolatey, moist, cake-like cookie that would work really well with any frosting and they're great by themselves. Boy really liked them and they were a hit at work as well. I halved the recipe and it turned out fine.

EDIT: just an fyi...if for some reason your flour ratio is off, and you discover that your batter is more like chocolate pudding, your cookies are going to bake completely flat. No poofy cookies! Made them again and had to add flour to get them to rise. Sigh.