Football Whoopie Pies

When I created these little goodies back in 2010, I was looking for something really fun and original for a game day party - the kind of treat that would be the center of a football-themed dessert table. Whoopie pies were the "it" dessert at the time, but no one had yet tried to make 'em like footballs, so I thought: why not? They seemed like the perfect thing to football-ize.

I really wanted to incorporate pumpkin - it's a great fall/winter flavor that goes perfectly with my idea of football season - so I used this recipe from Bon Appétit with just a few changes: to get a darker brown color (more similar to a football) I substituted dark brown sugar instead of the golden, and sifted 1/4 cup of cocoa into the dry ingredients.

The key here is finding a mini egg shaped pan. I found my Wilson pan on ebay, but since then more have come on the market (like this silicone one or this smaller version). You might also be able to find them at your local craft or baking supply store.

Football Whoopie Pies

Adapted from a recipe by Two Fat Cats Bakery via Bon Appétit

NOTE: The number of whoopie pies this recipe pan will make depends on your pan - I used one 6-cavity pan and made about 4 batches, for a total of approximately 24 pies.

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme
• 2 teaspoons maple extract

Pies

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon milk
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Directions

Filling

With a mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add marshmallow creme and maple extract; beat until blended and smooth.

Cake

Sift first 8 ingredients into large bowl. In another bowl, with electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars until blended. Gradually beat in oil. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in pumpkin. Add dry ingredients in 2 additions alternately with milk in 1 addition, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray your egg-shaped pan(s) with vegetable oil spray - make sure they are fully covered, but don't overdo it. Spoon batter into each cavity to just below the lip, then smooth the tops as best you can. Let stand 10 minutes.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 15-18 minutes - if using multiple pans, rotate them halfway through baking. (They were perfect for me at 18 minutes. ) Move pans to a wire rack; cool. Once they have mostly cooled, use a rubber spatula to gently ease each cake out of the pan - use a butter knife to gently cut around the edge of any that stick.

To fill: Cut each cake in half and gently brush off any large crumbs. Put a big dollop of crème on the bottom half (enough to scare you a little bit) then put the top on and gently push down. Don't worry if it's not perfect – you can clean around the edge with a butter knife and make it pretty.

Use a pasty bag with a small round tip to pipe on the laces. I'm not the world's greatest cake decorator, so I used a toothpick to fix my lines. Feel free to do the same, and don't worry if they're not perfect. No one will notice as they stuff it in their mouth and grab another one. Yum!

You can store the pies in single layer in airtight container at room temperature, but honestly, they're best eaten right away. Right out of the oven, they are soft and moist with a great light crumble; after a day in the container they start to get slightly sticky and overly dense.

Enjoy! And much love to all the fab sites and blogs that have featured my football whoopies over the past few years, including: Amy Atlas, Ohdeedoh, One Pretty Thing, Preppy and Pink, Craft Gossip, Best Friends for Frosting... and so many more. Thank you!

Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and/or believe will be useful to my readers.