I don’t know what took me so long to put this Shrimp Creole recipe up. Selfish I guess. Seriously though, I have come to the conclusion that I really don’t like sharing all the wonderful recipes I concoct and discover through tireless hours scouring the internet, cookbooks and eavesdropping. Lol  Y’all need to thank me…daily! Lol I really liked this recipe as is but you must add a little Louisiana hot sauce to the pot to REALLY get it going! This was my first time using lemongrass. Lemongrass is a tropical grass (duh) cultivated for a lemon-scented oil distilled from its leaves, and for use as a flavoring in cooking. This recipe comes from John Besh, a giant in Creole cooking. I thoroughly enjoyed the herbs and spices used in this dish. It was spicy and sweet and full of flavor. Serve over rice and with a crusty bread and enjoy!

(*Note: I actually made some kind of flavored rice, I can’t pin the recipe but it started with butter, chopped onions, a little garlic and broth in place of most of the water you would normally use to make rice. DELICIOUS but unnecessary in a dish that is soooo flavorful and aromatic.)

Shrimp Creole

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh lemongrass
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 medium onions, diced
• 10 clove garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 bell pepper, red, green or yellow, seeded and diced
• 5 pounds overripe Brandywine tomatoes or other heirloom tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (Any ultra-ripe tomatoes with do)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Leaves from 2 branches fresh basil, chopped
• Leaves from 1 sprig fresh mint, chopped
• Sugar
• 6-8 cups cooked white rice*

Preparation:

Put the shrimp into a large bowl, season with salt and pepper, then mix in the lemongrass.

Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over moderate heat.

Add the shrimp, stirring and tossing them with a spatula.

Saute until they turn pink, about 2 minutes.

Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside while you make the sauce.

Into the same skillet with the oil and shrimp juices, put the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and the onions, garlic, celery, and bell peppers and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and when the sauce comes to a simmer add the bay leaf, allspice and red pepper flakes.

Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the shrimp back to the skillet along with the basil and mint.

Cook for a minute or two.

Season with salt and pepper.

If the sauce tastes too tart, add a little sugar to balance the flavor.

Remove the bay leaf.

Serve over steamed white rice.

From “My New Orleans: The Cookbook by John Besh” Copyright © 2009 by John Besh. Reprinted by permission of Andrews McMeel Publishing.

While it is my favorite hummus recipe, it is also my ONLY hummus recipe. lol Authentic? maybe… Awesome? definitely!!! I got a food processor!!! You know I’ve been complaining about not having a processor since forever so it was a real treat to finally unpack it! My plan was to let this healthy treat be the very first thing to take a spin in the processor but I had an order for some oreo cakepops so they got the first turn. Hey! I tried…

This recipe is is fast, tasty and can be tuned to whatever your flavor.

Sundried Tomato Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons sundried tomatoes in oil (I buy them from the produce section at Publix)

1/3 cup tahini

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice (more if needed, to taste. I used the juice of 1 1/2 lemons but I LOVE lemons)

1 teaspoon fresh parsley

Place all of the ingredients with the exception of the lemon juice and parsley in the processor (or blender) and blend until smooth. Add 1/3 cup of lemon juice, spin and taste. continue adding in small increments until you get the flavor you desire. That’s it! Very simple and delicious! Enjoy!

The clovers were designed by the artistic hands of Malayzia, my beautiful assistant.

My family is in town and they love for me to cook. Coincidentally, I was invited to prepare goodies for the first of what I hope to be many “Excellence Series”, a brown bag luncheon to empower, inspire and encourage women. I had a great time! My niece, Malayzia was here visiting and she was my first assistant in the kitchen. She was with me for all 4 trips to the grocery store, she scooped the batter into the mini whoopie pan EIGHT times for me (we only had one pan and it was too late to buy another one by the time we realized it) and she worked diligently with me to pack and serve the treats earlier today. She was a real trooper….but I think she thought I was paying. lol She was good but she “wunt” THAT good. lol

For the event, I settled on mini chocolate whoopie pies with a fabulous mint swiss meringue buttercream icing. While I am a creative genius, I have to add that the idea for me to make the filling mint came from the child. But it still comes back to me because certainly I am her inspiration. Right? We called them “Thin Mints” mostly because of the flavor and partly because we wanted to be able to inhale them with a little guilt as possible.

The recipe I used is the same one from the Superbowl whoopie pie post, I just dressed it up a little with the use of Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa in the pies and I added a hefty amount of peppermint extract and green leaf gel coloring. It was cake!

The ladies really enjoyed the pies…and my pretty guests (my niece, Malayzia /front ; and sister, Keonna / back) were so happy there were leftovers. Don’t stare too hard at Keonna’s earrings because I am stealing them and I don’t need any witnesses…

Chocolate Whoopie Pies (by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito)

Yields 10-12 large whoopie pies, 15-17 small pies; 40-45 mini pies

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups (17.5 oz) All Purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup (2.18 oz) dark cocoa powder, sifted (we used Hershey’s Special Dark)
2 tsp instant coffee (the original recipe called for espresso powder but we’d already made 4 trips to the store)
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) hot coffee
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) hot water
2 cups (15.32 oz) light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup (6 fl oz) canola oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (4 fl oz) buttermilk, shaken
Mint Swiss Meringue Vanilla Buttercream filling (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the AP flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and instant coffee. Pour the hot coffee and hot water over the cocoa mixture and whisk until the mixture is completely smooth.

In another medium bowl, combine the canola oil and light brown sugar. Add this to the cocoa mixture and whisk until combined. Add the egg, vanilla, and buttermilk and whisk until smooth.

Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture.

Using a mini cookie scoop, spoon the batter in the prepared mini pan.

Bake 8 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a pie comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 4-5 minutes and carefully remove from the pan and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Pipe or scoop half of the rounds with the filling. Top each piped round with another cookie and serve.

It seemed like we made THOUSANDS!!! (Still, even making 112 was a lot!)

If you notice the really dark ones, they are the ones we made using the special dark chocolate before running out…

Mint Swiss Meringue Buttercream Filling
5 egg whites
1 1/2 cups (10.5 oz) sugar
2 cups (1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 – 3 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp green leaf gel coloring

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together egg whites and sugar. Place over a pan of simmering water and gently whisk until the sugar dissolves (test this by dipping your finger into the mixture – when you can no longer feel grains of sugar when you rub the mixture between your fingers, then the sugar has dissolved) – the mixture will be slightly warmer than body temperature.

Transfer bowl to mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until the mixture is smooth, white, and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add the butter, one piece at a time. Add sea salt, gel color and extracts and mix until combined. Beat until the filling is smooth and glossy (it may look curdled, but just continue to beat – eventually the mixture will come together).

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

Recently I discovered a wonderful website called Food52. On this site, they feature a recipe a week and have contests for “best of” dishes and they vote for one and feature it on the site. It is a great concept! I was in search of the “ultimate chocolate cake” recipe and I think I found a pretty darn good one while there! As the description says, the cake is reminiscent of a box cake but with the homemade qualities we all appreciate. It was moist, tender and so flavorful. My co-workers were happy I brought it in and thought I was the bees-knees that day. But what they DIDN’T know was that I am on a little get-fine program at the moment and we all know that the quickest way to get small is to make everyone around you BIGGER. lol *rubs hands in an evil manner* lol

Please try this cake! The ganach is SICKENING GOOD and the only complaint from one of my co-workers was that there wasn’t enough. (greedy azz! lol)

The cake recipe was adapted from the website Joy of Baking via Food52.com.

Serves 10

Velvet cake:

• 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, plus more for buttering the pans
• 1 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the center of the oven. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer or hand beaters, cream the butter on medium speed for about a minute. Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Keeping the mixer running on low speed, beat in the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in several additions, alternating between the two and beginning and ending with the flour.

Stir together the vinegar and baking soda. When it starts to fizz, quickly fold it into the cake batter. Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans, smoothing with a spatula. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then invert onto the rack to cool completely. Wrap each cake in plastic and put in the freezer for at least an hour. (This will make icing the cake easier.)

Fudge Icing:

• 3/4 cups heavy cream
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 1 dash salt

Using a double boiler, bring the cream just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate and salt. When the mixture has cooled and thickened slightly, use it to ice between the two cake layers and on top of the cake, letting the icing drip down the

sides. BLISS!!

Take THAT skinny whores!!!!! lol

Mission accomplished…

Okay, I guess you can have some. I mean, who doesn’t love Lump Crab meat? Terrorists, that’s who. Lol (Stole that from my co-worker, Danny… he’s hilarious!) If you unfamiliar with crab meat, have no fear. I can share my partial understanding with you all day. It’s no problem at all. Basically, there are 4 main grades/types of crab meat.

Jumbo Lump – My preference for sweetness and beauty. If you are doing all meat crabcakes (like at Morton’s) and crab cocktails. It comes from the rear of the crab.

Lump / Backfin / Backfin Lump  – It is the same in quality as the Jumbo Lump but it comes from a smaller variety. If the packaging says “backfin” that means that there are portions of the body meat or white crab meat included in your purchase. It is just as good so don’t worry. Lump is perfect for additions to soups (at the last minute) so it can be on display and so it won’t overcook. I use Lump in my crab cakes. It can also be used for my mother’s crab salad (I’ll beg her for the recipe for that for yall. J ) and dishes like crab benedict, etc. Anywhere in which the presentation is key.

White crab Meat – Mainly the body meat as I mentioned before. Most people use this for crab cakes, crab-based appetizers like crab ragoons, crab dips and bisques. I just prefer the large meat pieces to anything.

Claw Meat – The claw meat is the “dark meat” of the crab. It is more economical than any of the aforementioned types but it is flavorful, no less. I would recommend mixing this meat with the lump for an economical advantage. For instance, if you are making a party-sized crab dish, definitely mix it with the claw.

And there you have it! Blue crab meat –demystified.

I LOVED this soup! Don’t think crab bisque however or you will be a little disappointed in the lack of thickness given from the piles of cheese. I did add fresh parmesan at the end and it made it phenomenal! I made it for dinner and then Greg and I both wanted to come home and finish it off instead of going out for lunch the next day. I found it to be too thin for a bread bowl but shards of it dipped in the soup was a great accompaniment.

Enjoy,

Fierce Foodie

Crab Soup, adapted from Cooking Light 2003 via Tartlette.

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon herbs de Provence
1 bay leaf
4 cups water
1/4 cup cornstarch (or arrowroot) dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound lump crab meat
2 tablespoons Cognac

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the carrot and the next 5 ingredients (through jalapeno), and sauté 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add salt, black pepper, herbs de Provence, and bay leaf. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in the water, and cornstarch/water mixture and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring frequently. Stir in the milk and cream and cook 5 minutes. Stir in crabmeat and cognac cook 5 minutes or until the soup is thoroughly heated. Serve.

Andre 3000. Whew! The Love Below!!!! That is all I can say on that subject since Greg is an avid reader of FierceFoodie.com. Andre 3000 is primarily known, of course, as the better half (sorry Big Boi but he caters to the ladies) of one of the greatest rap groups EVER- Outkast!!! Andre is a musician, actor, fashion designer, one of Gilette’s Masters of Style, and now —chef. Bon Appétit magazine recently interviewed Andre on his preference between Collards and Kale. Being that he is southern-raised (Ga.), I assumed there was no question- collards. I was very surprise when he chose kale. o_O So you know, as a fan (and former stalker), I had to try the recipe he provided. I mean the man can’t be good at EVERYTHING! right? wrong! 

But—–a few of the ingredients were a bit difficult to find. We didn’t have that brand of soy-free margarine or seasoning so I substituted with regular butter and a seasoning blend that I tried for this and fell in love with!! I did purchase coconut oil for the dish and that was interesting and I loved the flavor it added! However, that crap was $10 and I only needed a few tablespoons…y’all know I only splurge on hair and shoes. lol Anyway, when I read that I could use it for my hair and body, I got over it.

Please try this recipe. If you are trying to get more greens in your diet or just switch it up a little, this is a winner. I have 2 more bags in my refrigerator to make some more at Greg’s request.

Courtesy of Bon Appetit Magazine

Today is President’s Day and coincidentally the day Greg and I eloped. But we’re not going to talk about that, we are going to let him have his little day. It is no secret that I looooove this dude (speaking of the President right now…Greg, it’s HIS day, don’t be so selfish. Lol)  so the idea of preparing some of my “play-play” hubby’s favorite dishes was quite appealing to me. Everyone knows the way to a man’s heart… Anyway, I skimmed a copy of A White House Garden Cookbook looking for something healthy and tasty to commemorate his day. The recipes were created by White House Chef, Sam Kass and Pastry Chef, Bill Yosses and feature simple and fresh cooking from their garden. Because I would also use these recipes for my cooking class, I needed them to be doubly good! And they were!  I make a pretty mean turkey lasagna on my own so I was expecting it to be tasty but nothing to write home (or to y’all) about.  Boy was I wrong. It was superb! Instead of a jarred sauce, it called for a can of whole plum tomatoes that I crushed along with fresh herbs. It also used low-fat ricotta and fresh spinach (which I typically associate with veggie and white lasagnas). We LOVED it! It WILL HAS replaced my usual recipe.

Although the President’s absolute fav dessert is sweet potato pie, I was quite sure no one would be thrilled to prepare or eat one so close to the recent holidays so I opted for the Honey Cupcakes in the book as a fun twist. These cupcakes use honey (duh!) as their primary source of sweetness so they in turn use less sugar and can be toted as “better for you” cupcakes. The icing (not pictured) was the easiest and tastiest thing in the world!!! It reminded me of the icing on the Lemon Pound Cake- made of confectioner’s sugar, a touch of honey and a nice splash of lemon juice. The lemon juice made it bright and was the perfect Ying to the sweet Yang of the honey. The kids loved it, the real hubby loved it! I am Fierce Foodie and I approve these recipes. < — God, why did you make me so lame?? Lol Enjoy!  

For the recipes, please click here:  

WHITE HOUSE TURKEY LASAGNA WITH SPINACH

recipe courtesy of A White House Garden Cookbook by Clara Silverstein/Red Rock Press, 2010

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound fresh ground turkey

1 can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes, crushed

1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

15 ounces low-fat ricotta or low-fat cottage cheese

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 large egg, beaten

1 bag fresh spinach, washed, but not dried

16 cooked lasagna noodles

4 cups low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese

Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add onion and cook until translucent.

Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

Add ground turkey and cook for about 10 minutes.

Add plum tomatoes and tomato paste.

Season with salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes.

Let simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Stir in basil and parsley; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and egg; season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Place damp spinach in a large skillet over medium heat; cook until wilted.

Season greens with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Ladle one-quarter of the turkey mixture into a 9″ x 13″ baking dish; spread to cover. Add a layer of lasagna noodles, one-third of the mozzarella, one-third of the ricotta mixture, one-third of the spinach mixture and another quarter of the turkey mixture. Repeat process two more times; top with remaining layer of pasta. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan over top; transfer to oven. Bake until bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.

Let stand about 5 minutes before cutting; serve.

WHITE HOUSE HONEY CUPCAKES

recipe courtesy of A White House Garden Cookbook by Clara Silverstein/Red Rock Press, 2010

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

1/4 cup softened butter

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup honey

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Icing Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup honey

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Lollipies or Pie Pops...whatever

Believe it or not, while in college, I dumped someone on February 12^th. Yep, I made the ultimate relationship faux pas and sacrificed a Valentine’s gift right at the finish line!! I worked hard for that gift and just threw it away….lol. I simply couldn’t take any more of that foolishness and he half-assed worked anyway so what was I REALLY sacrificing?!  lol Anyway, I spent that Valentine’s Day with some really good and also recently single friends. We hung out, did a little shopping and got pedicures together to numb the pain. On the way out of the mall, I insisted that we stopped in Godiva to get ourselves some little treats to completely KILL the pain! So we’re waiting to be waited on and we spot the beautiful chocolate covered strawberries in the case as well as some up on top of the counter in a covered glass dish. We concluded that the strawberries on the counter must’ve been the ones that were not up to their standards and were free samples for people who didn’t mind eating marred food. THAT’S US!!! Lol When I tell you we ate our single asses off! LMBO! In between bites, we managed to acknowledge how “we’d pay for them” and that they were “pretty enough for us” and tried to identify exactly why the berry had been discarded, noting the most insignificant aesthetic flaws in the history of chocolate making. My, my, my, Godiva was strict we thought!!! When it came time to order, we were pretty much good on the strawberries so we settled on a few truffles to take home. Seeing that we’d saved so much money, I offered to pick up the tab. I almost fell down when the lady behind the counter told me we’d eaten $24.50 worth of chocolate covered strawberries at $3.50 a pop and our new total was $33. I told her if she don’t get those truffles back in that case! Lol Although I couldn’t afford dinner that night, we later laughed about that for years to come. Ever since then, it is a tradition of mine to try to get at least ONE (and only one) chocolate covered strawberry on Valentine’s Day.

Since V-day is on everyone’s brain and I have to send a little treat with one of the nephews tomorrow, I made these little heart-shaped strawberry pies last week to test them out and thought they were too cute not to share with you guys! Because I used a 3 inch heart cut-out, some of them were too top heavy for the sticks so I made them into hand pies. The problem though is that you can’t get much filling in with smaller cut-outs so you have to make sure whatever you’re stuffing them with makes a good flavor impact. These were good but need more filling and that boost I just mentioned. Strawberries have a tartness that needs to be balanced with sugar. I would kick up the preserves and use less actual berries next time.

I HEART-YOU LOLLIPIES

10 strawberries, chopped small

3 tablespoons Strawberry Preserves

1/3 cup Cream Cheese

1 large Egg, Separated, divided

2 tablespoons Sugar, divided

1⁄2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Raw Sugar

Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust

12 lollipop sticks

Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400F. Combine cream cheese spread, egg yolk, 1 tablespoon sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well blended.

Roll each pastry disk on a lightly floured surface. Using your cookie cutter, cut out as many hearts as you can, re-roll scraps and continue until you can’t get another little pastry cut out of it. Being careful keep the filling in the center of the pastry shell, center a dab of the cream cheese mixture and top with the berry mixture. Place one lollipop stick in the middle of the shell leaving a little less than two-thirds of it exposed. Top with the other shell and seal it all around with a clean lollipop stick or a fork. If some of the filling spills out while sealing, it is ok. Place on the prepared cookie sheets. Make 2 or 3 small slits in the top crust of each pie to allow heat to escape. Beat the leftover egg white in a small bowl with a whisk until foamy. Brush tops of pies with the egg white and sprinkle the pies generously with the raw sugar.

Bake the pies until golden, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on a wire rack.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Pipe, Decorate, Fill and Sanwich.

Although I had no interest in the Super Bowl Game itself and really needed to be home taking out my hair in preparation for my trip this week, I did attend a party at our friends’ house. (I’m not telling yall where we’re going because I am surprising Greg and some of y’all can’t hold water so you’ll get the kool-aid when he gets it. Lol) Anyway, because I’d prematurely made the whoopie pies, they were murdered before the party so I had to make more. In the last post, I made Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but at hubby’s request, I made the second batch with a Peanut Butter Filling. The Swiss Meringue Buttercream yields a flavor that is similar to an ice-cream sandwich while the Peanut Butter Buttercream makes you think of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. I mean, they are BOTH great but the peanut butter….there are no words.

The game was cool, I guess. I seriously kept forgetting which team I was rooting for because they were both wearing blue and it was really confusing for some reason. Other than their 10 month old Lab’s COMPLETE OBSESSION with licking my toes and my almost falling out of my chair trying to reach my phn (curse these short arms) nothing was out of the ordinary. Actually, me falling is pretty standard too…. But we had big laughs and good food. What more do you need at a Super Bowl party? Oh yeah, I guess it would help if your team wins. Lol Sorry Greg. :(  wanted the blue team to win too.   

The recipe below is for making standard pies in the traditional circular dome shape. If you are making footballs, trace 12  2-inch ovals onto each piece of parchment paper with a pencil and flip paper over so you don’t die of lead poisoning, lol. Pipe within that pattern. Otherwise, a small ice-cream scoop will ensure uniformity. I used a squeeze bottle to pipe some leftover white icing I had onto the footballs for the decor. (I have a ketchup and mustard combo pack in red and yellow from the dollar store that worked perfectly) You may choose to add more laces since mine start to look like Chinese letters after a while. lol  

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

from Whoopie Pies

For me, this made 31 halves, so 15.5 whoopies  o_O 
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Ghirardelli)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (Kerry Gold)
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Position baking racks in the upper and lower 2/3’s of the oven.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, sift together, flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
In another bowl, beat butter, shortening and sugar with a mixer on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes.
Add egg and vanilla and beat for two more minutes.
Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk and beat on low until incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour and milk and beat until combined.
Using a small ice cream scoop (or if making footballs, pipe in an oval shape), drop batter on baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for about 10-12 minutes each or until pies spring back when pressed gently.
Remove from oven and cool for about five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Filling

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (or crunchy if you’re feeling frisky)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature*
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

*use regular American butter; here is not where you want a rich buttery taste to me. Save it for the baking.

Beat peanut butter and butter on low until creamy using a mixer.
Add sugar and salt and beat on low to incorporate. Increase speed to medium and beat for about four minutes until the filling is light and fluffy.
Spread filling on flat side on one cooled cake. Top it with a second cake and press gently.
Store whoopie pies in an airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

The first time I made these I was scared to add the filling until I need it on the cakes. I stored the whoopie pie shells in an airtight container and kept the filling in a Ziploc bag until the next day.

As you can see, we had waaaaaay more fun than adults should have playing with our food. lol

Nick Going Long - Rochelle Fakes and Eats it - Hiking the Whoopie