Green whoopie pies

Fresh green American-style whoopie pies made especially for St Patrick’s Day, which is just around the corner. If you’re celebrating – or even lucky enough to have the day off – be sure to bake these little “frog cookies”, as my children called them. 🙂 They’re wonderfully soft, light and fluffy, sandwiched together with a delicate marshmallow cream. Happy baking and enjoy the celebrations!

Makes about 15–17 whoopie pies.

Ingredients for green whoopie pies:

• 120 g butter, softened
• 170 g caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 230 g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 75 ml milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or a few drops of your favourite flavouring
• a small amount of green gel or paste food colouring (such as Wilton Leaf Green)

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla extract and the green food colouring, then mix until combined. The mixture may curdle at this stage, but this will not affect the finished cookies. Sift in the flour and baking powder, pour in the milk, and gently fold everything together with a spatula until just combined.

Line a flat baking tray with baking paper. Alternatively, use a whoopie pie pan, greased and lightly floured. Transfer the batter to a piping bag with the end snipped off (no piping nozzle is needed) and pipe mounds of batter, about 1 tablespoon each, onto the tray. You can also spoon the batter onto the tray. Leave plenty of space between each cookie, as they spread and rise considerably during baking.

Bake at 175°C for 12–15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the cookies on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Ingredients for filling:

• marshmallow fluff, preferably homemade

Spread about 1 teaspoon of marshmallow fluff onto the flat side of one cookie and sandwich with another. Don’t use too much filling, otherwise the cookies will slide apart.

Enjoy!