"orange velvet" whoopie pies.

Hello lovelies. How was this past weekend for you? Good, hopefully?

I traveled a lot this past weekend, but the weekend before, I stayed closer to home. It was a pretty busy three days. Friday was more relaxing than Saturday and Sunday, though. I went over a friend's house to meet my three other friends. We all brought food & scrolled through the On Demand movies on IO for like ten minutes because the cursor was moving soooo slow. And eventually decided on watching No Strings Attached.

Progression of the night? Read on.


Talked.
Scrolled through movie options that moved at less than a sloth's speed.
Ate the whoopie pies I had brought, meanwhile.
Found movie.
Decided to raid kitchen first.
I stalked her fridge while everyone else picked up chips, pretzels, salsa, & dip with iced tea & water.
Considered asking if I could eat one of her frozen chocolate chip waffles. Decided against it.
We all settled down in the living room, with our (insanely cute) mini chocolate & cherry-dipped cones.
Started movie.
Oh yeah ... Ashton's in this movie. So much for paying attention to anything else.
Realized Natalie Portman filmed this at the same time as Black Swan - skinnnnnny. But gorgeous in that one purple dress.
Halfway mark - someone left to go to bathroom.
The rest of us ran to make smores on the grill outside. Grill pan not removed, so flames really low - fail. Marshmallows very evenly gooey though, to make perfect smores - win.
Watched rest of movie.
Watched Ashton again on That 70's Show.
Random TV shows on in the background while we talked.
Dispersed for home.

I ate the one remaining whoopie pie while driving home.

Successful night, to me at least.

These whoopie pies are extremely moist and perfectly flavorful. Let's just say a generous amount of batter didn't end up being baked. The filling is a perfect neutral compliment to the sweet whoopie pies. The cookie part is actually quite healthy, comparatively. I made sure to tell my friends this so they would not feel bad eating more, but I don't think they needed the encouragement.

wet mixture.

Additionally, I dyed them orange because I didn't have red food dye. Honestly, I loved the orange color. I accidentally dumped in too much orange powder and had to remove as much excess as I could, but I think it worked to my advantage in the end, because usually I skimp on the dye. And after adding the cocoa-laden dry ingredients, the color always becomes muddy. However, it remained a vibrant orange this time.

final batter - after dry mix has been added. 

Orange Velvet Whoopie Pies
many adjustments made to this recipe. 
tip: if the batter spreads by itself too much, add flour, little by little. If the batter is too thick, add a small amount of buttermilk.

• 1 1/2 cups flour (maybe more, as needed later on)
• 2 Tb cocoa powder
• 1 tspn baking powder
• 1/4 tspn baking soda
• 1/2 tspn salt

• 3/4 - 1 cup sugar (I recommend the lower measurement if using sweetened applesauce. Otherwise, use 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened at room temp
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/3 cup regular (or unsweetened) applesauce
• 1/3 cup Light sour cream
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• orange powder food dye (or any color/form of dye you desire), optional

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F or 350 degrees F for a convection oven with a fan. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients.
3. Cream butter and sugar thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
4. Add egg whites. Beat well.
5. Add applesauce, sour cream, and extract. Mix well.
6. Add food dye of choice, little by little, until you get a really vibrant, vivid color. Remember - the dry ingredients have cocoa, and you want the color to remain, despite the addition of the cocoa.
7. Add dry mixture to wet mixture. Sitr till streaks of flour disappear.
8. Form mounds of batter on baking sheet, evenly spaced. Resist overly spreading them out, as they will spread on their own. Bake about 10 minutes. They should look set, not wet in the middle.
9. Let cool a few minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
10. Fill with filling.

Filling
(my recipe)

• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature  
• 1/2 cup ricotta (whole milk is creamiest and lease grainy)
• 3/4 - 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 2 tspn vanilla extract

1. Beat cream cheese by itself, till creamy with minimal lumps.
2. Incorporate ricotta, until smooth.
3. Add sugar and beat out any lumps.
4. Incorporate extract. Chill until use.