SCD Challenge: Whoopie Pies

I love baking for this blog but it often leaves me with a LOT of leftovers. Since I have a deep-seeded problem with throwing away food I've become quite a food pusher over the last few months. I figure if I give it away one of two things could happen both of which are positive for me: 1– the recipient enjoys the baked goods and thinks I'm a thoughtful, generous person (usually I have the right motives, sometimes I'm just trying to unload the most recent batch of baked goods I made WAY too much of) or 2– the recipient lets it sit around for a few days then throws it away vowing to lie through their teeth the next time they see me about how wonderful the cupcakes/cake/cookies etc were (thus saving me the calories and relieving me of the dreaded duty of throwing them away myself). Obviously I prefer the former scenario but what I don't know won't hurt me so I keep pushing the baked goods on family and friends.

One of the quickest routes to the first scenario is bringing my baked goods to work. My office is very large with a wide open arrangement so it isn't usually hard to give them away even if they go to some random passer-byes who I don't know.

Unfortunately, one person on my team has never been able to partake over the course of the last three years I've been working with her. Joanna–this challenge is for you!!! As a lifelong Crohn's Disease sufferer, she's spent the last three years on a strict diet that is VERY slowly helping her called the SCD diet (specific carbohydrate diet). I've admired her dedication, at first eating only purees of very specific single ingredients, and gradually moving on to a gluten-free, sugar-free, mostly fun-free diet you can read about here. The diet is also often used with great success by parents of children struggling with Autism. You can read about the SCD diet and Autism here.

This recipe is made using blanched almond flour which can be bought here. As you can imagine, being made with ground up nuts makes for a very rich, moist end result. These were delicious and we all agreed they were a good substitution for the classic Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies we remember eating in our school lunches. These were a special treat for Joanna who raved about them and a joy for me to make and eat too.

 

Spiced Whoopie Pies

• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger (dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Blend all the dry ingredients together, and then add all the wet ingredients and blend well.
On baking sheets covered with parchment paper or a baking mat (such as Silpat), place heaping tablespoons (about 2 measured tablespoons) about 3 inches apart in circles, across the sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely–at least 15 minutes–before sliding them off the pan with a spatula.
Take one pie and spread frosting on it. Place another pie on top of the frosting. Serve.

Creamy Vanilla Frosting

• 1/2 cup shortening (I used Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend all the ingredients together.

Spead, serve and store leftovers sealed at room temperature.