whoopie pies and lots of salt.

ya'll won't wanna know me when im pregnant.

i'm just gonna put that out there now. no beating around the bush. i crave random foods constantly. no really. weirdest cravings ever. all day erry day. it's crazy. ramen broth, pretzels dipped in frozen cool whip, and recently it was whoopie pies. i can't imagine how bad it will be when i get cravings for real..

now those things are crazy. it's really a textural thing for me. a good whoopie pie is a bit crumbly with a good crumb, but still soft and a tad fudgy. it's a crazy combination of cake and cookie and brownie. i don't know how it happened but the pennsylvania dutch are my heroes.

I've made whoopie pies once before and it was a total success but as always i was super nervous that it was a fluke. but alas no. these were even better. mmm. whoopie pies are kinda great, they leave nothing to be desired and satisfy your chocolate cravings, cake cravings and cookie craving at once.

the crazy thing about this recipe is that you just mix everything together. just mix it up. that's all. it's really just that easy..

2 cups of flour

3/4 cup of sugar (or sub truvia.)

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup buttermilk (I just added a bit of vinegar to regular milk since I was out)

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup good quality cocoa (i used special dark or course! ya'll know me!)

1 egg (i subbed applesauce since i was out and it was fantastic! but you have to add 25-50% extra leaving, so keep that in mind or else you'll have a super heavy dense mess.)

a dash of salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

and 1-2 tsp vanilla

it's just that easy, and as always don't over beat.

bake teaspoonsful on a parchmented (parchmentified? parchmental? ) cookie sheet at 350 for 8-10 minutes.  Feel free to try one to test the doneness..

fill with desired fillings. now here's the scoop on mine. caramel. salt. frosting. 

that's all you need to survive. 

i swear, i make salted caramel weekly. there's always a nice big ziploc container full of it. and since i have friends visiting from the mainland, we're eating it on everything from apples to crackers to the crazy cake we're planning..

now the most important part of salted caramel is: ____

yes. salt.

im not being sarcastic i promise. it's super important. table salt just doesn't cut it when it comes to something like this! it use a special charleston salt that i have sent to me from south carolina that it super chunky but delicate and almost melts in your mouth which is exactly what you want. it really makes all the difference.

i was catering a pcs party on base a bit ago and when they found out that i made my own caramel they were floored. which is crazy since it's really simple. it really is. magic.

boom.

measure out 3/4 cup of heavy cream and 3 TBSP of butter and set aside.

in a good small saucepan, combine one cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water and cook on low til the sugar is dissolved. it shouldn't be grainy at all but smooth. once that's happened, turn up the heat and bring it to a boil. let it bubble and boil without stirring, you can swirl the pan a bit if you need to. keep a silicone brush and dish of water near by to clean the crystallized sugar off the sides. just keep boiling. when it starts getting amber don't take your eyes away because it'll go from a beautiful golden color to burnt in zero seconds. once it's a little past amber, don't just turn the burner off but remove the pan from the heat and dump in the heavy cream and keep wisking. don't scream or cry or panic. it's gonna bubble and and spatter and clump on your wisk. you're gonna want to have a melt down and want to throw the pan on the ground. please dont. keep stirring. it'll relaxing and look perfect. i promise. if you still end up with a bit of hard candied sorta stuff in it, just put it on low heat til its disapears and melts. Add the butter and approx. a tsp of that beautiful salt we talked about. mmmhmmm. once it sits in the fridge for a while it thickens substantially.

that and some frosting make the best whoopie pies filling. or just dip your whoopie pies straight in. to each his own.

 

booyah. sprinkle generously with salt.