Whoopie Pies by Julie Vision in the Kitchen

(Yield - 3 dozen)

Cookies:

4 cups flour sifted

2 cups sugar

1 cup cocoa (sifted)

1 cup shortening

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda, dissolved in 1 cup hot water

Filling:

2 egg whites (I use the pasteurized ones that come in a carton since they are not cooked)

4 Tablespoons flour

1 Tablespoon vanilla

4 Tablespoons Milk

1 cup shortening

1-2 pounds powdered sugar

Step #1 - Preheat oven to 350*F.

Step #2 - Mix flour, cocoa, and salt in a bowl.

Step #3 - In a separate bowl, mix sugar, shortening, eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy.

Step #4 - Add the flour mixture to the egg/sugar mixture, alternating with milk.

Step #5 - Add hot water/soda and mix until well combined.

Step #6 - Drop by the spoonful into walnut sized blobs on a well greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. (My oven only took 9:30 to bake this round.) Give the batter a light stir between each batch; otherwise you'll see pinkish streaks in the batter. This is not a bad thing-- it's just the chemical reaction of the buttermilk and the cocoa. The same reaction is how real, old school red velvet cakes turned red.  Allow cookies to cool completely before filling.

For the filling...

Step #1 - In a clean, dry bowl, beat eat egg whites with an electric or stand mixer until soft peaks form.

Step #2 - Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. The original recipe calls for only 2 cups of sugar. Mine turn out soupy when I use only 2 cups, so I end up using 1-2 pounds of sugar depending on the weather. I know this sounds funny, but when it is hot and humid, it takes more sugar to get the filling to stand up. If you are taking these anywhere, I recommend making the filling thicker (the texture of a thick icing), as they travel better that way.

Step #3 - Spread a thick layer of filling in between two cooled cookies and, ta-da!! You are done!