Something Everyone Can Get Behind

Happy Easter, bunnies! I hope everyone ate lots of fantastic food on Sunday. I cooked a bourbon and brown sugar glazed ham, a roast chicken with lots of lemon and garlic, some sort of delicious braised cabbage dish (which was infinitely better than it sounds)...and these carrot cake Whoopie pies. You may not celebrate Easter. You may not eat meat. You may detest and downright avoid cabbage like the plague. But I’m certain carrot cake Whoopie pies are something everyone can get behind. I was dumbstruck at how easy they are to make and how over-the-top amazing they turned out to be. I made a test-batch on Friday night (the contents of which were devoured by friends and my parents) and I kept making them straight through to Sunday. We ran out more than once.

I invested in two silpat mats, and let me tell you, they are magical. You can literally pick the cookies (or biscuits, or scones, or whatever you put on the baking sheet) off the mat as soon as they come out of the oven. No sticking, prying or scraping. No burnt bottoms. I’m told it’s wise to purchase two silpat mats and use one for sweet things and one for savory things. The flavors tend to linger because you can’t wash silpat mats in the dishwasher. But some warm water and soap is really all you need to get them clean, anyway.

The best thing about Easter is carrot cake. I’m a fan of these Whoopie pies not only because they are a lighter alternative to typical carrot cake, but also because they are outrageously simple to make. In fact, it’s their simplicity that I love: they’re little individual cakes (well, pies, actually) and there’s no arguing over who gets the bigger slice. You needn’t worry about baking three separate cakes, then layering and frosting each one to make a traditional carrot cake. You don’t have time. And you have this recipe.

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies
Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients
1 1/8 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 c) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c plus 2 Tbs packed light brown sugar
1/3 c plus 2 Tbs granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c coarsely grated carrots (about 2 medium) I like to buy bags of pre-grated carrots and give them a rough chop to make them a bit tinier.
1/2 c raisins
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 c honey, or slightly more, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, putting an oven rack in the middle.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Mix together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl and beat for about 2 minutes. Gently fold in carrots and raisins, then add flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Chill dough in freezer for 15 minutes.

Drop roughly 1 Tbs batter per cookie 2 inches apart (an ice cream or cookie scoop works great) on silplat mats or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until cookies are lightly browned and cake-like, about 16 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, whisk together cream cheese and honey until smooth.

Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous dollop of cream cheese filling in between.

I couldn’t wait to eat these (hence, the Friday-night devouring) but they do take on a more Whoopie-pie-like quality on the second day – and if you can wait that long, well, you’re much, much stronger than me.