Oatmeal Whoopie Pie with a twist of lemon please?

According to food historians, the term "Whoopie Pie" came from back in the day when Amish woman would make these little cookie concoctions for their husbands lunchboxes before they went out into the fields. When the farmers would find these treats in their lunch, they would shout "Whoopie!" - I'm not so sure about that story but I can say that these little bad boys are enough to make anyone yell out for sugary joy.

This recipe was originally my amazing Auntie Barbara's :-) she was kind enough to share with me many of her amazing recipes and now I am sharing it with you only I have made a few changes to put my own twist on things and not completely rip of my sweet aunt. These aren't your traditional whoopie pies as you might expect them to be soft like the kind you buy in the grocery store. I used to love the Little Debbie version that come in a box when I was little. The have more of a cookie texture with a hit of lemon in the cream filling to help cut the sweetness of the cookie and cream. Since these are oatmeal they are great in the fall or in the summer since they have that summery lemon tang.

Here's the recipe:

COOKIES:

• 1 C. Butter, softened
• 1 C. Packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C. Sugar
• 1 Large egg
• 2 Tsp. Vanilla
• 1 1/2 C Flour
• 1 Tsp. Baking soda
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt
• 1/4 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 3 C. Uncooked oatmeal oats. (You can use a little more depending on how stiff you want your cookies)

Beat butter and sugars together... add egg and vanilla. mix in flour, salt, cinnamon, and soda. Stir in oats. Bake at 375 8-10 min (watch them depending on your oven). COOL COMPLETELY before applying your cream filling. You will have a mess on your hands if you rush the cooling process. What is nice about this recipe is you can make the cookies in advance and wait to make the cream filling when you are ready to serve.

Cream Filling:

• 1/2 C. Butter softened
• 2 C. Powdered sugar
• 2 Tbl Whipping Cream
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of half of a lemon (you can add more or less depending on how lemony you want the filling)

Combine butter, sugar, whipping cream, vanilla, and fresh lemon juice in a bowl. Beat on high until light and fluffy. Add your lemon zest last and mix in lightly. Make a sandwich with the cookies. Use a pastry bag with a round tip if you want to make them neater and in my opinion your life easier.

Whoopie!

NOTE: I just made this recipe in a friends oven which is much nicer then mine and I noticed that since her oven was on confection it made the cookies much fluffier which made them harder. If using a confection oven I would use another 1/4 cup of butter and make the dough flatter rather then balls on the pan, this way they will spread thinner when you bake them. Hope this helps!