FLETCHER –Pecan Spice Whoopie Pies earned Sharon Gates of Buncombe County a blue ribbon, $100 and a year’s worth of bragging rights in the "Anything Pecan" cooking contest at the Mountain State Fair.
Denise Pudelski of Henderson County took second-place honors and $50 with her Chocolate Pecan Pie Cake recipe. Nicole Bender of Henderson County won third with her Pecan Carrot Cupcakes.
Judges critiqued the recipes on taste appeal, appearance, creative use of pecans and ease of preparation. The recipes could be for an original dessert, appetizer, casserole, stir fry, sandwich or other dish as long as pecans were the main ingredient. All recipes had to include at least 1 cup of pecans.
The contest was sponsored by the N.C. Pecan Growers.
Pecan Spice Whoopie Pies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup or 1 ½ sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
¼ molasses
1 cup chopped pecans
½ cup raw cane sugar
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Set aside. In another large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and egg. Stir in the molasses. Add the flour mixture and beat to combine, 1-2 minutes by hand mixer. Stir in chopped pecans.
Cover and refrigerate dough until firm, at least one hour. Remove from refrigerator. Pinch off golf ball sized pieces of dough and roll into balls. Place raw sugar into a small bowl and roll cookies in sugar.
Place balls on cookie sheet and bake a single sheet of cookies at a time, 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Cool on rack.
Filling:
8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
½ cup finely chopped pecans
½ teaspoon vanilla
Stir together all of the filling ingredients. After cookies cool, place a generous spoon full of filling on the bottom of a cookie and top with a second cookie. Roll edges in additional chopped pecans if desired.
Yields about 15 Whoopie pies, depending on size.
Source: North Carolina Dept. Of Agriculture & Consumer Services