This week, I decided to bake something that made me think I was eating healthier, even if that wasn’t exactly true. I have already made a carrot cake, so I didn’t want to make that. While scrolling through Pinterest, I saw this recipe. It looked delicious, so I decided to give it a try. Keep reading to find out how it went!
This week: Zucchini Bread Cookie Whoopie Pies, courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats
Ingredients for the Cookies:
- ¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature (must be room temp!)
- ½ cup (4 oz.) unsweetened applesauce (I used vegetable oil because I didn’t have applesauce)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup finely grated zucchini (squeezed of excess moisture, then measured)
- 1 cup old fashioned oats (or 4 packages of Quaker Oats)
- 1 cup flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Ingredients for the Icing:
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 4 oz. “1/3 less fat” cream cheese, room temperature (must be room temp!)
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Click through to learn how to make these delicious (and healthy) treats!
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How to Make the Whoopie Pies:
1. Mix together butter, applesauce, brown sugar, and white sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg, then beat to combine. Add vanilla then beat to combine.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches, mixing well between each batch. Add zucchini and mix to combine, then add oatmeal and mix to combine.
4. Cover bowl, then place in the refrigerator for one hour, or until dough holds its shape when scooped (I was in a rush so I skipped this step, didn’t seem to make much of a difference)
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Drop 1 tablespoon dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheets then bake for 10 minutes, or until set on top.
7. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
How to Make the Icing:
1. While the cookies are cooling, combine butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
2. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Once the cookies were cool, I used a shot glass to make circle shapes since the cookies spread out into squares in the oven
4. Scoop a spoonful of icing onto one cookie and cover with another cookie.
5. Store whoopie pies in an airtight container in the fridge. (That wasn’t necessary because they were all gone before the end of the day!)
Go to the next page to see the final product!
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Final Product:
Time Spent in Kitchen: 40 minutes
Rating: 7
After sending them a picture of these, my roommates were rushing home to try them. They all loved them so much that they were gone before the sun went down. Not having a mixer made this recipe a little labor intensive, but it’s not unbearable. The icing definitely made the recipe! If you have a recipe you want me to try out, leave us a comment or tweet/ Facebook at Her Campus BC!