Zucchini Whoopie Pies

Do you ever set out to make something and find that half way through the recipe you go to grab the next ingredient only to find your out?

If that ingredient was something that could make or break the recipe such as butter, milk, flour, sugar. Your done. Finished. Over.   Toss that batch right in the trash.

It happens too me too often. I'm sure you have all gathered that I am a hot mess in the kitchen. Total craziness erupts several times a week in here.

Sometimes... (most times) I am missing something small something that can be subbed. Which is good for me and good for you because you get a new twist on a classic posted here on the blog.

Yesterday I set out to make a cookie that I grew up eating in the summers and early fall. I had a teacher Mrs. Messier (for those of you from HCS you'll remember...) Mrs. Messier was also a friend of my parents and babysat my brother and I after school.

I remember feeling so special that I got to stay after school after all the other kids piled onto their buses while my brother and I played on the playground. Mrs. Messier would then pile us into her old Volvo and bring us down the rd. to her house.

She'd set us up in her in living room to watch "Goof Troop" and give us zucchini chocolate chip cookies. It's been about 20 years since I've had one of those cookies but I can still taste them! They were filled with a hint of nutmeg, a  little lemon, cakey much like a pumpkin cookie and loaded up with chocolate chips.

Yesterday I was hell bent on having one of those cookies. Yeah well... no chocolate chips through a wrench in that plan! I had the base cookie done. So I knew they would be good just as is.

When they came out of the oven I was super bummed. Just a bit plain without the chocolate. I was also in the middle of making a special cake for my husband (post on Sunday!) I was up to my eye balls in Lemon Buttercream.

Duh Carrie fill those babies up with frosting and you have a whoopie pie. Mrs. Messier's cookies can wait for another day!

My husband loooooooves zucchini cake with lemon frosting. So I knew this would be popular. The kids are weirdos and don't like frosting on things? But yet they will sit down and lick the mixing bowl clean when I'm whipping up a batch. Go figure they didn't like the whoopie pies but wanted me to save them some un filled cookies. They loved them as is. So I guess chocolate chips were not make or break.

Zucchini Whoopie Pies


Ingredients:

1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup of shredded zucchini (skin on seeds removed)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.


In the bowl of your electric mixer cream butter and sugars together. Add in egg, lemon zest, and vanilla. After it is combined mix in flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Fold in zucchini

Drop heaving 1 tbs mounds onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes. remove and allow to cool completely before filling with frosting.

(Recipe yields 1 1/2 - 2 dozen cookies)

For the Frosting:

1/2 cup room temp butter
2-3 cups of powder sugar
1 tsp heavy cream
1 tbs lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

With an electric mixer cream butter with sugar. Add in sugar 1/2 cup at a time.  If it is too thick add in heavy cream to thin it out a tad.

Mix in lemon zest, vanilla and salt. Whip oh med/high until it is light and fluffy.

Pipe into cooled cookies.