Orange Almond Cream Whoopie Pies Recipes

Steps:

• For the whoopee pies: Position 2 oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.
• Combine both kinds of chocolate and the butter in a medium heatproof bowl. Fill a medium pot about a third of the way with water and bring to a simmer. Place the over the simmering water and lower the heat. Melt the chocolate and butter gently together, stirring and scraping the sides to avoid scorching, until melted, then remove the bowl from the heat. Cool 2 to 3 minutes.
• Whisk together the sugar, eggs and vanilla in another bowl. Set aside. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder in another bowl. Whisk in the egg and then the chocolate mixture. Do not overmix.
• Spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick spray and drop the batter on them in large spoonfuls about 2 inches in diameter, leaving room between each to allow spreading.
• Bake, rotating and switching the positions of baking sheets halfway through, until the whoopee pies puff up slightly and settle, 6 to 8 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before gingerly lifting them off and transferring to a flat surface.
• For the filling: Heat the milk in a medium saucepan until hot and add 3/4 cup toasted almonds. Turn off the heat. Allow the almonds to steep in the milk 25 to 30 minutes. Strain the milk and pour it back into the same pan.
• Beat together the sugar, cornstarch, flour and egg yolks in an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until thick, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Pour some of the hot milk mixture over the eggs and blend. Pour the egg mixture back into the milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the almond extract and continue to cook until the mixture begins to bubble, then cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring. Transfer to a bowl and cover with a layer of plastic pressed against the surface so the cream doesn't form a skin. Refrigerate 1 hour.
• Sandwich some of the cream and the remaining 1/4 cup toasted almonds between chocolate rounds. Drizzle with melted chocolate if using. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, silicone baking liners, or lightly spray with cooking spray.
• In large bowl, beat all cookie ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until moistened; beat 1 minute longer on high speed.
• Pour batter into a 1 gallon resealable plastic bag. Seal baggie and cut small hole off of one of the bottom corners.
• Pipe batter into 36 small circles onto cookie sheets about 1-inch apart to allow for spreading.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes until set being careful to not over bake. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets and place on cooling rack. Cool completely before filling.
• Once cookies are cooled spread frosting on flat side of one cookie. Top with the second cookie, flat side down to make a sandwich.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Cut and set aside 25 pieces of plastic wrap about 5 inches square.
• For cookies, beat 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening, 2 cups of milk, 2 cups of sugar, the eggs, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract together in a large mixing bowl until smooth and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk the 4 cups of flour with both amounts of unsweetened cocoa, baking soda, and salt until thoroughly combined. Beat the flour mixture into the wet ingredients just until smooth.
• Scoop up the batter by teaspoons, and drop onto ungreased baking sheets in small round dollops about 2 inches apart. Recipe should make about 50 cookies. The cookies will rise and expand a lot.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are set in the middle, 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheets for several minutes before removing to finish cooling on racks.
• To make the filling, place 1 cup milk in a microwave-safe measuring cup, and cook in microwave until hot but not simmering, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the heated milk into a large mixing bowl. Add the cup of room temperature butter, 1 cup of vegetable shortening, 2 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and the marshmallow creme. Beat the mixture on high speed until the frosting is fluffy, 5 to 10 minutes. At first the frosting will appear lumpy, but keep beating.
• To fill the cookies, choose 2 cookies that are about the same size, and spread about 1 1/2 tablespoon of the frosting onto the flat bottom of a cookie. Top with the other cookie, flat side down, and wrap the filled cookie in a sheet of plastic wrap. Place the filled cookie into the freezer. Repeat with remaining cookies and frosting, wrapping each whoopie pie in plastic wrap and freezing.
• To serve, remove whoopie pies from the freezer and allow to thaw until very cold but not frozen, 10 to 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. In another bowl, mix the egg, oil, orange zest and sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, alternating with the buttermilk, until all the ingredients are well combined.
• Drop the dough, a teaspoonful at a time keeping the shape as rounded as possible, onto the prepared baking sheet, taking care to leave enough space between the cookies as they expand while baking.
• Bake about 8 minutes, until slightly golden around the edges, but do not overbake for they will get hard. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• While the cookies are cooling, prepare the filling. In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer, mix the cream cheese and butter until light and well blended. Add the sifted powder sugar, in batches, until the filling is perfectly smooth. Add the almond extract, mix well.
• To fill the cookies, use a pastry bag or spoon to spread the filling onto the the flat side of one cookie and then sandwich another cookie on top.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Make the pies: In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the unsweetened chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate and butter. Fill a pot (relatively the same size as the bowl) about 1/3 full with water and place it over medium heat. When the water simmers, place the bowl of chocolate and butter over the simmering water and lower the heat. You want to melt the chocolate and butter gently together, stirring and scraping the sides (to avoid scorching).
• In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and lemon zest. Set aside.
• Separately, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
• When the chocolate and butter is melted, remove the bowl from the heat; stir to assure it's completely mixed and transfer to another medium bowl. This will accelerate cooling. Allow the chocolate to cool a few minutes. Whisk in the egg mixture. Whisk in the flour mixture. Only whisk until blended, over-mixing can affect the texture of the pies.
• Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray (alternatively, use a piece of fitted parchment sprayed with nonstick spray). Drop the batter in large spoonfuls (keeping the shapes as round as possible) on the baking sheet. You are aiming for rounds that are about 2 inches in diameter. Take care to leave some room (about 2 inches) between each one to allow for spreading that will occur as they bake.
• Place the tray in the hot oven and bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Check the pies. Leave in the oven an additional minute or two if they seem under baked. The dough will lose some of its shiney-ness and no longer look wet but will still feel soft. Remove the tray from the oven and allow them to cool for about 5 to 10 minutes before gingerly lifting them off the baking sheet and onto a flat surface.
• Make the filling: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk to a simmer and add about 3/4 of the cup of the toasted almonds. Reserve the remaining almonds. Shut off the heat and allow the almonds to "steep" in the milk, for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain the milk and pour it back into the same pan, discarding the almonds from the milk.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the sugar, flour, cornstarch and egg yolks until thick and smooth, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Pour some of the hot milk mixture over the eggs and whisk to blend. Pour the egg mixture back into the milk; turn on a low to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the almond extract. Continue to cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, stirring to make sure it doesn't cling to the bottom of the pan and burn, until very thick. Pour the cream into a clean bowl. Stir in the remaining almonds. Cover tightly with a layer of plastic so the cream doesn't form a skin. Allow to cool.
• Assemble: "Sandwich" some of the cream in between two of the chocolate rounds. Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.