Makin' Whoopie (Pies)

Since my boyfriend is not a fan of sweets (except for very un-vegan gelatin-laced gummi bears ... ick!), I opted to make Valentine's Day treats a little early to share with my co-workers. After pouring through dessert sections in several cookbooks, I settled on Kittee's Whoopie Pies from Papa Tofu:

Look, I know they're not that pretty. There's frosting spilling over the sides, and the cookies didn't get quite as a mounded and cake-like as they were supposed to. But trust me when I say they tasted better than they looked.

Since Kittee's recipe calls for a peanut butter filling (which sounds delish, but not very Valentine's-y), I used the strawberry variation from another whoopie pie recipe in the VegNews Magazine. It called for fresh strawberries (which I had frozen from last spring), soy marg, powdered sugar, and soymilk.

Unfortunately, I learned that margarine separates more than shortening in a frosting. So you could see a little separation in the pink filling. It tasted good, but not quite as pretty and fluffy as it would have gotten with shortening. I doubt I'll ever use margarine in a frosting again.

All that being said, these were tasty, and thanks to all the powdered sugar in the filling, super-duper sweet. Hope ya'll have a Happy V-Day!