Well… in truth, there wasn’t that much dairy in these puppies anyway; 5 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of milk spread over a dozen or so pies, but every little bit helps.
As for that creamy, fluffy frosting?
Well… in truth, it’s solid vegetable shortening whipped into a surprisingly tasty filling with powdered sugar, vanilla, and just a dab of salt.
Healthy? Heck no! It’s a Whoopie Pie!
INGREDIENTS
Whoopie Pies:
•5 tbsp buttery spread
•5 tbsp cocoa
•1 cup sugar
•1 egg
•2 cups flour
•1-1/2 tsp baking soda
•1/2 tsp salt
•1 cup soy milk
•1 tsp vanilla
Frosting:
•4 cups (1 lb) confectioners’ sugar
•1 cup solid shortening
•1/4 cup water
•1-1/2 tsp vanilla
•1/8 tsp salt
First, the pies:
Heat the oven to 400º.
Whisk the flour together with the baking soda and the salt in a small bowl.
Cream the buttery spread together with the cocoa and the sugar, then add the egg, soy milk, vanilla, and the flour mixture and beat until smooth and creamy.
Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons on a parchment-lined baking sheet – mine are kind of a funky shape, so I get nine comfortably per sheet. I get about a dozen pies out of a batch of batter, on average; but I like large whoopie pies.
Bake the pies for about seven minutes until nicely puffed, then remove from the baking sheet and cool on a rack.
Now, the frosting:
Beat the shortening in a mixer using the whisk attachment for 10 minutes until it is light and fluffy.
Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and the salt and continue beating until you have this light and fluffy bit of icing goodness.
Slather a good bit of the frosting on the flat side of one of the pies and top with another to make your whoopie pie sammich.
Nice.
And the soy milk and vegan buttery spread didn’t really taste much different than when I use regular milk and butter. I think the cocoa is the biggest flavor factor here – try Scharffen Berger, it’s worth it.