I used to have a strawberry patch in the back yard. That was before last year when I had a new baby in the house, and it just slipped my mind to water the thing. For the whole summer. Oops. Needless to say, we’re starting fresh with new plants this year, which means I’m hitting up the local farmer’s market to get my berry fix this spring.
Only problem? I have absolutely NO self control when it comes to strawberries. This past Saturday, I bought two gallons. Yep, you read that correctly. TWO GALLONS. That’s a s$#t-ton of fruit. I’m not quite sure what I was thinking, but it translated to a lot of hours spent in the kitchen.
I am now well-versed in the cooking of strawberries, and so this week I present to you: A Week Dedicated to Strawberries. We’ll have breakfast options, desserts, and even savory meals that highlight the Fruit du jour, I mean de la semaine.
Let me first introduce you to the Strawberry Whoopie Pies. I found this recipe on Pinterest, and despite owning up to four sticks of butter, proceeded to make these little guys with a few adaptations. They are absolutely delish (I mean they had to be since I found the recipe on delish.com). In order to not eat the entire batch (and a large batch it makes), I individually froze each pie in wax paper (and then parchment paper when I ran out). They thaw quickly when left on the counter, or you can even eat them frozen!
Strawberry Whoopie Pies
Ingredients: Cookies
– 1 cup stemmed and halved strawberries
– 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
– 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
– 1 tsp baking soda
– 3/4 tsp salt
– 2 cups light brown sugar
– 2/3 cup vegetable oil
– 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
– 2 large eggs
Ingredients: Filling
– 1 cup stemmed and halved strawberries
– 5 egg whites
– 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
– 4 sticks butter, room temp. (best left out on counter overnight)
Directions:
1. Put strawberries for cookies in food processor and pulse in short bursts until they are in small pieces (not pureed). Remove and set aside. Put strawberries for filling in food processor and puree until smooth (a good 15 seconds). Remove and set aside, in separate bowl from chopped berries.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and soda, and salt into medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, mix brown sugar and oil. Whisk in chopped strawberries and yogurt until combined, then mix in eggs, and fold in flour in two parts, mixing until just combined. Do not overwork the batter.
3. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On parchment paper covered cookie sheets, spoon one heaping tablespoon of dough onto paper, leaving 2 inches of space on all sides. Bake each sheet, 10-12 minutes, or until set and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.
5. Make filling: Whisk eggs and granulated sugar on medium low in heavy bottomed sauce pan until mixture is milky white, approximately 2 minutes. Transfer egg white mixture to stand mixer fitted with whisk. Whisk on high until glossy with soft peaks, approximately four minutes.
6. Replace whisk with paddle attachment. Add butter and beat until fluffy, about two minutes. Add reserved strawberry puree and beat.
7. To assemble: Smooth generous amount of frosting onto one side of cookie. Top with another unfrosted cookie to form sandwiches. Serve or freeze! Makes approximately 20 whoopie pies. Don’t worry about the calories/saturated fat content. It doesn’t matter when you cook “seasonal” foods. I promise. 😉
Leave a Reply