Blueberry Orange Whoopie Pies

Whoopie Pies are a favorite treat up here in Pennsylvania and for good reason – they’re portable and two cakes filled with tasty frosting. If you’ve never heard or tasted a whoopie pie, I highly recommend trying out this recipe or my Mint Chocolate Whoopie Pie. The traditional whoopie pie flavors are chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, and my go to in the Amish markets – Pumpkin, but since those flavors are  classics I’ve chosen to switch it up and go with blueberry and orange!

Blueberry and orange are a perfect spring/summer flavor combination. This whoopie pie recipe has a blueberry packed cake with a flavorful blueberry and Cointreau (orange liquor) swiss meringue buttercream. You can use any buttercream frosting recipe if you don’t want to try swiss meringue, but what I love about the swiss meringue buttercream is that it’s a less sweet frosting option so your whoopie pie isn’t a sugar bomb. If you’ve never made swiss meringue buttercream, I suggest reading through Sallys Baking Blog tips because this article is great for first timers with all of the troubleshooting advice! One important thing I will highly suggest is to make sure your egg white and sugar mixture is not grainy before beginning to whip into the meringue. Funny story – the very first time I made swiss meringue buttercream, I was too impatient with my burner on low and ignored the grainy sugar and began to whip which lead to a grainy frosting… not the most pleasant mouth feeling. If you don’t want to make your own frosting and want to take a shortcut, then you can buy a tub of frosting at the store and mix in blueberries and Cointreau for your yummy whoopie pies!

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Blueberry Orange Whoopie Pies

Makes: 12 whoopie pies

Total Time: 45 minutes

Whoopie Pies

• 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup milk, room temperature
• 1.5 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Zest of 1 orange
• ¼ cup blueberries, fresh or thawed

Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC)

• 6 egg whites
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups unsalted butter (3 sticks), sliced into tbsp sizes
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup blueberries, fresh or thawed
• 4 tbsp Cointreau (Orange liquor)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, mix together to milk and vinegar, set aside.
3. In a another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until just incorporated and add the vanilla and orange zest.
5. Slowly alternate mixing in the flour and milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour until just combined – do not overmix. Fold in blueberries.
6. Using a tablespoon, dollop 2tbsp size of batter onto the parchment paper and gently shape to a circle using the back of the spoon to ensure even spreading. To prevent the batter from being very domed – spread to flatten the batter lightly to your circles and bake for 10-12 minutes until the cakes bounce back when lightly poked. Place on a cooling rack when baked.

SMBC

1. Begin by adding a small amount of water to your double boiler (saucepan) ensuring your mixing bowl does not touch the water. Heat on medium heat.
2. In either a stand mixing bowl or a large metal bowl, add egg whites and sugar and give a whisk to incorporate. Place your mixing bowl over your double boiler and continuously whisk until the egg white mixture becomes loose and foamy, about 170°F if you have a thermometer, *and your mixture is not grainy*. This typically takes me 6-7 minutes of whisking, but to test, dip your pointer finger in the mixture and rub with your thumb to feel for granules or just look to see if you can see any on your finger.
3. Once you’ve whisked your mixture and it is no longer grainy, attach the whisk attachment to your stand mixer and begin whipping until the mixture has cooled and there are stiff peaks – about 15 minutes. Add salt while its mixing, once you see stiff peaks.
4. While your mixture is whipping, take your butter out of the refrigerator and slice into tbsp size shapes. This allows the butter to still be cool when you add it – if its room temperature or too warm, you’re buttercream can turn soupy.
5. When your meringue has cooled down, begin whipping on medium high and add 1 tbsp of butter at a time until each has incorporated well. Add the orange liquor and vanilla extract after the last addition and slowly mix the blueberries in to prevent all of them from breaking up totally.

Now its time to assemble! Take 1-2 tbsp of SMBC and sandwich between two of the blueberry cakes and you have one delicious whoopie pie! These can be made ahead, individually wrapped with cling wrap and enjoyed up to 5-7 days later.

I hope you enjoy these tasty whoopie pies and would love to see them so please comment below and tag me on instagram @theladlebearer!