Whoopie Pies for Elvis

Fresh out of the oven

sugar and butter mixture - should be crumbly before adding cream, honey, and lemon juice

Assembly line

Chocolate glaze

The Good, the Bad, and the Yummy states that "Elvis might have been horribly misguided about drugs and sequins, but he got one thing right—peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

I couldn't agree more. Elvis was a smart man with an even smarter mother. It is rumored that his mom used to prepare his favorite sandwich for him- a peanut butter and banana sandwich on hawaiian bread. My own father used to love to each peanut butter on ritz crackers, also very yummy and I love peanut butter and honey on wheat bread. How do you combine all three? Only in a whoopie pie of course!

My friend Taryn and I decided to tackle the idea of an Elvis whoopie pie. Banana Whoopie's with a layer of salted peanut butter spread and honey buttercream, to top it all off and really make it K Bakes style Taryn had the brilliant idea of dipping them in chocolate. It seems like a lot of hard work but they really weren't that difficult, and all the ingredients really make these amazing. By adding mashed bananas to the whoopie pies it makes for a ultra moist cake that isn't too sweet, once paired with the thick peanut butter spread and the light sweet honey buttercream you can't resist but to bite into these. I think even Elvis would be proud of the chocolate addition.

All recipes are adapted from the brilliant book "Whoopie Pies" by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell

Banana Whoopie:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole weat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together using a strainer or a sifter both flours, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Set aside
3. In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer if you don't have a stand mixer) beat together the butter, shortening, sugar, and vanilla until light and creamy. Add in the eggs and beat until combined.
4. slowly add in the dry ingredients, once combined add in the mashed bananas and mix on medium speed for about 2 min.
5. Using a spoon or a pastry bag with a large round tip drop about 1-2 tablespoons of batter depending on how large you want to make them onto the prepared baking sheets spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Bake on the sheets for about 10 min, or until the cakes begin to brown slightly. remove from the oven and let the cakes cool on the sheet for a few min before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Fillings!!

Honey Buttercream:

• 3 cups of confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons of honey (I use Savannah Bee Company's Winter White Honey)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• pinch of salt

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the confectioners sugar and the butter, starting on low and increasing to medium speed, until the mixture is crumbly, about 1 minute. add the heavy cream, honey, lemon juice, and salt and beat on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Salty Peanut Butter:

• 3/4 cup of creamy or crunchy peanut butter (I used reduced fat creamy peanut butter at it was great)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt (if you don't want it to be too salty you could just do a pinch of salt)

In the work bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the peanut butter and butter on low speed until smooth and creamy. add the confectioners sugar and the salt and beat on low to incorporate. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the filling is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.

Chocolate glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat just until it bubbles. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate in the bowl and stir until smooth. add the butter and stir to blend.

TO ASSEMBLE:

Put both your fillings into pastry bags fitted with a large round tip or in a ziplock back with the tip cut off. Pipe the peanut butter filling on half of the whoopie pie's and the honey buttercream on the other half. Assemble by putting the honey buttercream whoopies on top of the peanut butter ones (so the heavier side doesn't crush the buttercream) Once they are assembled dip each one into the warm chocolate glaze, then cool on a rack. Place a sheet of parchment or waxed paper under the rack to catch the drippings.