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Sunday, August 26, 2012

I baked: Chocolate chip whoopie pies with Crème Chantilly

The first time I tried a whoopie pie was in Pique Nique, Singapore. An American creation, a whoopie pie   may be considered either a cookie, pie or cake. It consists of two round mound-shaped chocolate cake/cookie/pie with a sweet, creamy filling. It is also sometimes called the "Big Fat Oreo".



According to food historians, Amish women would bake these desserts (known as hucklebucks, or creamy turtles at the time) and put them in farmers' lunch boxes. When farmers would find the treats in their lunch, they would shout "Whoopie!"! It is thought that the original Whoopie pies may have been made from cake batter leftovers.



I made these chocolate chip whoopie pies by adapting my chocolate brownies recipe, hence the texture is a cross between a soft cookie and chocolate brownie (a bit chewy and moist). For a simple filling, I made Crème Chantilly (vanilla flavored whipped cream). These chocolate rounds are actually pretty good eaten on their own but it wouldn't be a whoopie pie without the filling! These were a special treat for my kids since they are on school holidays at the moment - they were delighted to see and eat them!


We like to call them "mini chocolate burgers"


Baby D loves the crème Chantilly


School holiday treat


Chocolate chip whoopie pies with Crème Chantilly
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 11-13 minutes per batch
Makes 12-15 whoopie pies

Ingredients
For the whoopie pies
110g butter
50g unsweetened chocolate (I used Hershey's)
2 eggs, beaten
200g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
125g  plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
20g chocolate chips

For the filling:
200g whipping cream
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 180°C (or 160°C fan forced). Line 3 baking trays with greaseproof paper. 

2. Melt the butter and the chocolate (broken up into small pieces) together on top of a double saucepan.

3. Once melted, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Stir in the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract, followed by the sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until well-combined.

4. Drop the batter in large spoonfuls on the baking trays. (First time I made it was using a tablespoon, and it came out rather big, like 9cm in diameter each, for a more dainty appearance use a teaspoon for to get 4-5cm diameter). Or alternatively you can pipe them for uniformly shaped rounds. Leave space about 4cm between the batter as they will expand during baking. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of each round.

5. Place tray in the preheated oven and bake for 11-13 minutes. It should be firm to the touch. Cool on the baking tray for a few minutes, and then place them on a wire rack to cool completely.

6. To make the creme chantilly, place the whipping cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl and beat until stiff.  Put in fridge until required.

7. To assemble, pipe whipped cream onto one of the chocolate rounds then top with another round. And voila, a whoopie pie! You can eat them straight or put them in the fridge first.. either way it tastes really good!







I am submitting this recipe to Bake-Along No.31: Whoopie Pies hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Lena from Frozen wings and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids. Check out all the other whoopie pie recipes here.




Full set of photos can be viewed on my Facebook page here. 

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's Facebook page on 13 Sept 2012.

38 comments:

  1. Hmmmm...once macarons, then Hokkaido cakes...and now whoopie pies! Who made some pretty ones that day, tied with ribbons and all? You have my mailing address? Come, send me some... Wink! Wink!

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  2. Whoopie! Thanx for explanation on the origins...hehe =)

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  3. ooo, so it only takes about half an hour to make these little goodies! and you're a lot more generous with the filling compared to the ones commercially available in KL. these are actually the best-looking whoopie pies i've seen! :D

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    1. Awww thanks, that compliment made me so very happy! Once you get a hang of it, it's not that difficult to make. Just need to get them in nicer (rounder) shapes next time.

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  4. Did baby D said:"mummy, I just want to eat the whoopie pie, not the white flower?" Very naughty aunty Jessie, hahaha! Big fat oreo is a cute name!

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    1. Haha Baby D knows the drill - mummy take photo first before he can eat. He also knows to pose with the food, he always tells me "mummy, take photo of Dan Dan". ;P

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  5. Double chocolate whoopies! Delish!

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  6. I love how you piped the cream chantilly btw, I just took a tablespoon and whack them on my pie shells :P The brownie looks rich and tasty!

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    1. Haha! For photo purposes, need to be a bit more hardworking and pipe it. Later on, I also just sapu on the rest of the whoopie pies.

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  7. Love the idea of having choc chips in the whoopee pie, that would give it some nice texture.

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    1. Esp when the whoopie pies have been chilled in the fridge for a bit, we loved it even more. The choc chips also have harden a little.

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  8. If i was your kid.. i'd open the kitchen door and go... WHOOPIE!! :P

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  9. hi baby sumo, welcome to our bake along! i'm happy to see a whole list of whoopie pies on the linky with a good variation of flavours , a vanilla chantilly cream is delicious, no doubt at all! thanks so much for baking along with us, hope you had fun making these whoopie pies !

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    1. Hi Lena, it has been a pleasure to bake along with you all. Will try to join in more often if time permits.

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  10. These whoopie pies look so pretty ! Two thumbs-up for choco chips addition ! lol Love how you piped that crème chantilly !

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    1. Hehe thanks so much! Happy to see my kids enjoying them so much. I love your pink ones too.

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  11. I miss the chance to eat the whoopie pie, sob sob. :(

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    1. Hehe don't worry, there will be another time. Will make it again (after I make appt to meet u guys!) Hehe.

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  12. Hi, Adding choc chips to the batter certainly makes it more fun to eat! And your Chantilly cream sounds wonderful!
    Thank you for baking along with us. Hope to see you again. Have a great week!

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    1. Hello Joyce, it's been a pleasure. Have always been meaning to make whoopie pies since trying them in Singapore, have to say I love my own version more than the shop ones! Haha.

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  13. Hi,
    Now why didnt I think of adding choco chips to my batter!! Brilliant!
    Your kids are so cute and adorable. Lovely clicks.

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    1. Hi Anuja, Hehehe I added choc chips cos my whoopie pies were looking a bit brown and dull. Turned out looking prettier in the end and tasted great too.

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  14. Hi! Your whoopie pies look good with the chantilly cream, could see your kids are having fun chowing down on these!

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    1. Hi Jeannie, thanks for dropping by. You're right, my kids loved them.. finished them all within 24 hours.

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  15. I like that you filled them with chantilly cream and I'm not usually a fan of the marshmallow filling! :D And those pics of your kids eating them are so cute :)

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    1. Chantilly cream is light and usually works well in cakes etc, and my kids love it so I thought of using it for my whoopie pies too :)

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  16. I like your mini chocolate burgers. The two little happy faces have told me that the "burgers" are extremely delicious :D

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  17. i love how u pipe the filling :) and mixing in chocolate chips is so clever :)
    your kids are so adorable :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Alice! All for the love of good food photography.

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  18. Mine weren't chewy and moist, guess that I might have slightly over-baked Lol. Yours look so good.
    Eileen, Hundred Eighty Degrees

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    1. I think it depends on what recipe you use, mine was adapted from a chocolate brownie recipe hence it is slightly chewy. Thanks so much for dropping by!

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  19. Love the addition of chocolate chips in your whoopie pies! My sons will love these chocolatey whoopie pie. Looks like your kids enjoyed these goodies too. :)

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