My sweet Noni, even though she has lived in the South most of her life, her Yankee roots definitely shine through when she breaks out the molasses!
Learning the ropes of the kitchen at Noni’s very a serious matter, well it was in my mind anyways. (: There were several rules that I learned early on and still abide by today, but just to name a few that I feel everyone should know.
- Always have your hair pulled back while in the kitchen.
- If you know you are baking, pull out your eggs and butter the night before to become room temperature.
- Be sure to scrape the top off of your dry ingredient measurements to be as precise as you can be while baking.
- Always treat your family as guests no matter what and never cook something you know they do not prefer.
Even with the so-called ‘rules’ all we ever had in the kitchen was pure fun and created so many memories. I hope that one day I have a collection of recipes scribbled down on random pieces of paper and have to remember where I placed it amongst all of the cookbooks in my kitchen cabinet. There is something about handwritten recipes or recipes that are torn out of magazines with the little notes, “good” or “very good!” written and circled in the corner that has them burned in my memory.
These Molasses Whoopie Pies are definitely one of the recipes with a circled “very good” and if you have never had a whoopie pie, be prepared to have your world rocked!
XO, Ashton
- Yield: 12 whoopie pies
Ingredients
Molasses Cookies
- 1 c dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp. ground ginger
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 c molasses
- 3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
- 1/2 c vegetable shortening
- 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 tsp. baking soda
Boiled Marshmallow Frosting
- 1 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
- kosher salt
- 3 egg whites
- 8 marshmallows
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- For the cookies: In a standing mixer, cream together brown sugar, butter and vegetable oil on medium speed. Then add in your flour, molasses, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, and baking soda until combined.
- Using a tablespoon scoop the dough onto the baking sheets. Making sure to leave plenty of space between each ball as the cookies spread.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes or untill puffed on the top. Remove and cool completey before frosting.
- For the frosting: In a heavy bottomed pot, bring your sugar, 3/4 cup water, cream of tartar and a pinch of salt to a boil over medium heat and cook until candy thermometer reads 245 degress, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and fold in the marshmallows until melted.
- In a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, place your egg whites in the bowl and whip on medium-high until you have stiff peaks. Turn the mixer on low and slowly pour the hot sugar mixture in with the egg whites. Beat untill the mixture is cool and fluffy, then fold in the vanilla extract.
- Using a butter knife to frost the bottom of half of the cookies, top them with the remaining cookies and serve.
Love you both…wish we all had a Noni. She is a wonderful soul. Soak it all up while you can sweet girl! xoxo