Old Fashioned Whoopie Pies Recipe from Maine

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People in other places will tell you that whoopie pies were invented somewhere else but honestly, Maine claims it.  It’s even one of the state desserts along with blueberry pie.  Blueberries are native to Maine so I suppose that choice makes sense.

The whoopie pie is two pieces of cake holding sweet filling.  I grew up on these treats. My mother made them often and I thank her for that.

You might own a whoopie pie pan but let me tell you, those are for wusses.  Maine whoopie pies are the size of a salad plate.  It takes two hands to eat a Maine whoopie pie, folks.  It gets icy cold there and everyone works off the calories shoveling snow.  That’s what my father said who was as skinny as a rake and could eat everything he could see.  Was I fortunate enough to get those genes?  No.

Every June in Dover-Foxcroft Maine, there’s the annual Whoopie Pie festival with contests for the best traditional whoopie pie, the best flavored ones and even the most creative whoopie pie name. Here’s a video of the first Maine Whoopie Pie Festival in 2010. Note some a them accents from ovah theyah.  Don’t laugh too hard at the accents because that’s how I talked until I left for college.

You can buy whoopie pies that aren’t the traditional chocolate with a creamy filling but that’s a sacrilege if you ask me.  I was coaxed into making red velvet one year but then I found my inner strength to say no. Say no to whoopie pies with blueberries or strawberries or chocolate chips. (okay maybe chocolate chips)

I no longer am a young girl living in Maine. I live in Australia now (and so far from being a young girl that it hurts) and I make whoopie pies sized for humans who don’t shovel snow for hours.  These were made in a whoopie pie pan. Sad, I know. I do hanker for the days when I could happily eat a plate sized whoopie pie.

This recipe comes from Downeast Magazine. It was my favorite magazine when I was a kid.  It was all about Maine and I would sit there with that magazine and dream about taking off on one of the big windjammers that sail the Maine coast. It never happened.

I apologize for that really crap photo. I was dancing along just fine and then the tethering software crashed and I *assumed* the settings would be fine on the camera and didn’t look.  I’ll reshoot tomorrow once I remake these.  I gave them all to the nursing home before I looked at the photos.  Anyone else done that? I didn’t even save one because I knew I’d eat it. I’m building room for Thanksgiving.