Banana Whoopie Pies

It would seem that I’ve been making a lot of cookies recently! I suppose that it’s that time of year! This year I wasn’t in the mood for the regular old boring cookies. I didn’t want to make raspberry thumbprints and chocolate mint cookies, I wanted to break out of the mold. Go cookie crazy! Throw tradition to the wind and have some fun. So I started out with the dark chocolate hearts, wonderful. Then I thought, let’s get nuts! It’s whoopie pie time!

The whoopie pie. If you haven’t heard, it’s the cupcake of 2010. They’re getting more hits on Google than “What to buy my husband for Christmas.” That’s pretty popular! If you’ve never had one, then apparently you’ve been hiding under a house all year long. Now is your time to embrace the whoopie pie.

Wikipedia describes them as “made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, sometimes pumpkin cake, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them.” Cake mounds? Cream filling? Sounds right up my alley! How about you?

Banana Whoopie Pies

Feel free to tweak the spices to your hearts content. I decided to add my favorite banana bread spices to jazz these cookies up. You can also make then smaller or larger than I did, just adjust your baking time.

2 cups flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ cup mashed banana (from one very ripe banana)
½ cup sour cream
½ cup (8 tbsp) butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another small bowl, mix together the banana and sour cream. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix until completely combined.

Add flour in three portions, alternating with banana mixture. Once combined, transfer batter to a piping bag with a ½-inch tip. Pipe 1 ½ inch circles onto parchment-lined baking sheets. (Alternatively scoop out about 2 tbsp of batter into rounded heaps) Bake for 12 minutes, rotating halfway through baking.

Once baked, they should look golden and delicious. Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Filling

½ tsp vanilla
16 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar

Combine the ingredients with an electric mixer and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Pipe or spoon onto half of the cookies, top with remaining cookies. Try not to eat them all in one sitting!