Chocolate Oreo Cookie Whoopie Pies

What do you get when you stuff Whoopie Pies with Oreo cookies? These.

Oh. My. Gosh. Little did I know when I came up with this idea last weekend that it would produce such little bites of chocolate delight – ‘Whoopie’ indeed :-).

For any of you who have not heard of Whoopie Pies, they are a bit like a cake but also a bit like a cookie. Usually they are sandwiched together with a buttercream filling but, as those of you who read this blog regularly will know, I often get impatient with frosting so I decided to find an alternative. My idea was to get the frosting in a ready-made form, and to add a bit more cookie to my Whoopie. Enter the Oreos, which were conveniently on special offer at my supermarket, along with some melted chocolate to stick everything together.

The result was simple and quick to make, but oh so chocolatey. If you eat these as soon as they are made then the Oreos give them a great cookie-crunch texture. Keep them overnight (in an airtight container) and that crunch turns into a more cake-like consistency as the Oreos soften. I actually think I liked them better once the Oreos had softened up as they tasted like a more integrated part of the cake shell.

This recipe can make up to 18 Cookie Whoopies, but I found one packet of Oreos contained 14 cookies. So, buy more than one packet of Oreos if you want more Cookie Whoopies, or stick with one packet of Oreos and eat the rest of the cakes on their own (still delicious!).

I adapted the cake recipe from one I found on taste.com.au.

Ingredients – makes 14:

• 125g/4.5 oz unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 and 1/2 cups plain (all purpose) flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 115g/4 oz dark cooking chocolate, broken into chunks
• 2 tbsp thickened (heavy) cream
• 14 Oreo cookies

Method:

• Heat your oven to 180C/160C fan forced/350F.
• Spray a 12-hole round based pan (see below) with cooking spray. If you have more than one of these pans then it will save time, but if not then you will have to cook 3 batches.

• In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
• Put the flour, cocoa, bicarb and baking powder into a medium bowl and stir to combine.
• Add half the flour mixture to the large bowl with the butter mixture and stir, then add half the milk and the lemon juice and stir again.
• Add the remaining flour mixture, milk and lemon juice and stir again until combined.
• Put a heaped teaspoon of the mixture into each hole of the prepared pan, then bake for 7-8 minutes or until cooked through (test with a skewer).
• Once cooked, transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Repeat the above 2 steps until all the cake mixture is cooked.
• Once the cakes have cooled, use a sharp knife to carefully cut the tops off each cake to make a flat surface on one side (the underside should remain round from the shape of the pan). Don’t discard the removed pieces of cake – eat them!
• Put the chocolate and cream in a small saucepan over a low heat and stir until the chocolate melts. Remove from the heat.
• Dip each side of an Oreo into the melted chocolate, then sandwich between two cake pieces. Put on the wire rack to let the chocolate harden and the sandwich will then be set. Repeat with the remaining Oreos until all your Cookie Whoopies are made.
• Once the chocolate has set, you can serve immediately for a crunchy texture or store in an airtight container overnight for a more cake-like texture.
• Enjoy!