Healthy Whoopie Pies

Until I moved to Vermont, I had never heard of whoopie pies— a cream-filled cakey chocolate sandwich cookie originally from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They have a cultlike following in New England. At every roadside stop between here and Maine they are piled up in neat little stacks. And they’re quite delicious…but often made with a filling of sugar-laced shortening. So they’re not so stellar nutritionally.

whoopie_pies.JPG [4]

Makeover [5]
Add/Read Comments (1) [6]

Related Recipes

Whoopie Pies [7]
Healthy Frozen Dessert Recipes and Tips [8]

We decided to makeover the classic whoopie pie and we had great success.

Here’s how a traditional whoopie pie stacks up against our madeover version:

Traditional Whoopie Pie: Calories: 679; Fat: 36 grams; Saturated Fat: 9 grams; Trans Fat: 4 grams

EatingWell Whoopie Pie: Calories: 202; Fat: 11 grams; Saturated Fat: 4 grams; Trans Fat: 0 grams

Here are the secrets of how we made whoopie pies healthier:

Replaced vegetable shortening with healthy canola oil and substituted nonfat milk for whole milk in the cookie.
Whole-wheat pastry flour replaced all-purpose flour.
A combination of nonfat yogurt and whipped cream thickened with gelatin replaced vegetable shortening, marshmallow fluff or whipped cream in the filling.
We made a whoopie pie with a slightly smaller portion size – many traditional versions are nearly as big as a salad plate!

Links:
[1] http://www.eatingwell.com/user?destination=print/1867
[2] http://www.eatingwell.com/print/1867
[3] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=healthy_cooking/quick_healthy_cooking/healthy_whoopie_pies&linkname=Healthy Whoopie Pies
[4] http://bed56888308e93972c04-0dfc23b7b97881dee012a129d9518bae.r34.cf1.rackcdn.com/sites/default/files/whoopie_pies.JPG
[5] http://www.eatingwell.com/healthy_cooking/quick_healthy_cooking/healthy_whoopie_pies
[6] http://www.eatingwell.com/healthy_cooking/quick_healthy_cooking/healthy_whoopie_pies?section=comments#tabs
[7] http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/whoopie_pies.html
[8] http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_frozen_dessert_recipes