Banana and Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

My kids eat bananas like they're little monkeys, which means I buy bananas four or five pounds at a time. Although my monkeys kids usually eat them all up before it's even time to go back to the grocery store and get sad that we've run out, it's also not that uncommon that a few bananas go brown and mushy before their time at which point I quickly toss them straight in the trash. I know I could be more creative in using them up, but I just don't care for banana bread and freezer space is way too tight at our house to worry about saving monkey food. Plus it's not like bananas have feelings or anything....
One day my sister was visiting and got a little upset that I was wasting perfectly good mushy bananas, so she begged to make something with them. Now I may claim to be on a diet on any given day, but on any given day it is highly unlikely that I will ever turn down delicious treats...especially when they're made by someone else. So it was that Banana Whoopie Pies came to be. She used the "pie" recipe from King Arthur flour and the filling and glaze from another site (that I completely forgot to write down). They were out of this world delicious and now I'll be purposely buying extra bananas just so we can have this treat again!



The ingredients:
Click here for Printable Recipe.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups (3 medium) mashed over-ripe bananas
2 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur's white wheat flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips (optional, we didn't use these)
3/4 cups chopped walnuts (optional, we didn't use these)

FILLING:
2 pkg. (8-oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.

For the cookies: In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, and salt until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, and then the bananas. The mixture will look curdled; that's okay. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Whisk together the flour and baking soda; add to the banana mixture, mixing until evenly combined.
Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then mix for 1 minute more. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts just until combined.

Scoop the dough by the quarter cup for large cookies, and the tablespoon for small cookies. Allow plenty of space between them.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the tops spring back when lightly touched with your finger, and the edges are light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring the cookies to a rack to finish cooling completely before filling.

For the filling, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar, vanilla, and peanut butter and mix until combined. Spoon mixture into a pastry bag with the end cut off. Pipe filling onto the flat sides of the whoopie pies and then top with another cookie. (We just used a plain old spoon for this job, rather than a pastry bag).

For the chocolate glaze, melt all ingredients in double boiler or a glass bowl in the microwave. Mix until smooth. Do not overheat. Drizzle over whoopie pies.

Enjoy!

9 comments:

Lyndas recipe box August 18, 2009 at 11:12 AM  

These look addictive...chocolate, banana and cream cheese in the same recipe. Amazing!

Anonymous,  August 18, 2009 at 12:27 PM  

We love chocolate, peanut butter, and bananas, so these sound delicious! I'll have to buy some extra bananas and hide them.

Spryte August 18, 2009 at 12:33 PM  

I bet my little monkey would LOVE these!!

Debbie August 18, 2009 at 2:16 PM  

I always have plenty of overripe bananas around....I just have to try these sometime. They look delicious!

Coleens Recipes August 18, 2009 at 2:49 PM  

I haven't made whoopie pies in years, these look great!!

Katy ~ August 18, 2009 at 5:28 PM  

I've only had chocolate whoopie pies with the marshmallow frosting so these are a delicious twist for me. Hmmm....we are going to a bbq soon...this would be a lovely addition to bring along!

Karine August 18, 2009 at 6:39 PM  

They look cute, they sounds delicious and they have amazing flavors! Thanks for sharing your recipe!

MaRiN August 19, 2009 at 12:19 AM  

I love whoopie pies...the chocolate ones that is. I'll have to try these ones now too! I could actually eat one right now.

Reeni August 19, 2009 at 6:28 PM  

These look incredibly delicious! Love the cream cheese filling!

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About This Blog

My name is Lara and while I'm definitely not a gourmet cook, I do love preparing tasty, healthy meals for my family. Finding new recipes to try and sharing the ones we've already fallen in love with is a passion I've had since college and the reason why I've started this blog! With five kids, I'm usually in a hurry, so you'll find most of these recipes kid friendly and simple to make.

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