Healthy Recipe: Lower-Calorie Whoopie Pies

They look a bit like very large sandwich cookies filled with cream, but whoopie pies are actually made out of cake batter and filled with frosting or marshmallow fluff. Athena writes in from Boston, Mass., with the request to rehab these traditional New England specialties. She has never actually made them herself, but she admits that the ones sitting on the counter in the stores are difficult to resist even though she knows they are packed with sugar and contain nearly 20 grams of fat.

Most of that fat comes from the filling made out of vegetable shortening. In order to create a healthier recipe, I will lighten up the filling by using non-fat Greek yogurt and Neufchatel cream cheese. I will also lighten the load of sugar by reducing the amount. As for the cake part of the sandwiches, I will replace the shortening here as well, but I will use mashed banana to add nutrition and fiber, and I will also reduce the amount of sugar. In order to boost the fiber content even further, I will replace half of the flour with whole wheat flour.

One of the major reasons whoopie pies are so high in calories is the portion size. One sandwich is actually the equivalent of about 10 sandwich cookies-which is at least four portions. By making them in your own kitchen, you can control the portion size and reduce them to a more reasonable size. So, instead of making six-inch cookies, I will make three-inch cookies. This way you can eat the whole thing and you won't have to share.

Ingredients:

Cookie

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup mashed banana

2 eggs

1 cup skim milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup cocoa

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup Neufchatel cream cheese

1/4 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray nonstick spray on cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl cream together sugar and banana. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. In a small bowl combine the cocoa, flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the liquids beating together until smooth.

4. Drop batter (about 2 tablespoons at a time) on to the cookie sheets to make 18 cookies.

5. Bake 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

6. To make the filling, cream together the cheese and sugar add yogurt and continue to mix until well blended.

7. Assemble sandwiches by spreading the filling on the flat side of one cookie and topping with another pressing down to distribute filling evenly. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling.

8. Wrap whoopie pies individually in plastic wrap or place them in a single layer on a platter as they will stick if stacked on top of each other.

Makes: 18 sandwiches

Nutrition Content (per sandwich):

162 calories, 3 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 31 g carbohydrates, 17 g sugars, 3 g fiber, 5 g protein, 229 mg sodium

-Written by Tanya Zuckerbrot for That's Fit

So, is anyone else itching for one of these right about now? Mmm!