Peepsicles!

Easter Bunny Peepsicle

Just when you thought Peeps couldn't get any sweeter! The classic Easter Bunny Peep, on a stick, then dipped in white or chocolate and covered with sprinkles. Individually wrapped and ready to tuck into any Easter basket.

Whoopie Pies!

Mini Whoopie Pies

"A whoopie pie's a wondrous thing,

like newborn pups or early spring.

It fills the mouth with rapture sweet,

This yummy chocolate sandwich treat."

                                                                      -  Anonymous

I recently got a Babycakes Whoopie Pie maker  . . . for FREE!  So, I had to try it. Since I had all the ingredients already at home, I decided to make the classic devil's food with vanilla filling.

The whoopie pie maker is kind of along the lines of a George Foreman grill, or one of those sandwich makers. You just plug it in, wait for it to heat up, pour in your batter, close the lid, and 2 minutes later you have 12 little baby whoopie pie halves! It took 3 batches befoe I got decent looking ones, which was an acceptable amount of learning tiome. I didn't waste too much batter. Although the instruction booklet and the instruction on their website don't agree (one said use a teaspoon of batter - the other said one tablespoon) I found neither measurement to be correct. One teaspoon gave tiny little rounds that didn't even fill the cavity, and a tablespoon made slightly bigger rounds that still didn't fill the cavity. I finally put the batter into a large piping bag and just squirted in enough to fill the bottom of each little well. Perfect! They're so cute!

I used the "Creamy Vanilla Filling" recipe from the booklet, but added half of a fresh vanilla bean to it. Yum! There is a big whoopie pie debate going on about what whoopie pies should actually be filled with. A marshmallow-tpye filling or more of a creamy-frosting-y type filling. I chose what I think is actually the traditional, the creamy vanilla. The little booklet included with this maker includes recipies for both, as well as several other fillings like chocolate and cream cheese. It also several recipes for different whoopie pie flavors, such as vanilla, chocolate, red veltet and pumpkin. It evn has directions for converting a box cake mix.

And yes, I know you don't need an official "Whoopie Pie Maker" to bake whoopie pies. You can use a plain old cookie sheet with parchment paper. What I like about the maker, though, is that you get the same size everytime - no trying to match different sized tops and bottoms. I like them to look perfect! And since it makes mini sized pies, it would be no trouble at all to make a few different flavors and not feel too bad about trying more than one.

So, I am very happy with my new gagdet! The Babycakes company also has makers for cupcakes, cake pops, and donuts, which you can check out on their website HERE. I have read mixed reviews on some of them, but I have to say I am happy with the Whhopie Pie maker! These are also sold locally at WalMart and Kohls.