Dan and I love food. We love to cook it and we love to eat it. That’s why it was a surprise and a frustration to us when one of our two children turned out to be one of the pickiest eaters we’d ever seen.

Suffice to say, this child has not eaten a vegetable in any form since he was old enough to feed himself.

I tried all the cook books promising that I could hide veggie purees in my child’s food. None of them worked. He’s a detective — seeking out and systematically rejecting any recipe that has incorporated a vegetable in any form.

Man, does this kid love a whoopie pie, though — and why not? The whoopie pie is truly one of the best things ever to come out of Maine, is it not?

Recently, I came across a recipe for a supposedly delectable double-chocolate zucchini bread. It’s no wonder; everyone I know is buried under a pile of zukes at this time of year. Zucchini recipes are needed, stat! I started to ask myself if it might not be possible to create a whoopie pie that hid a pile of zucchini inside its delicious, cakey goodness. I figured it might be a total failure, but I had little to lose. Sure, I’m still handing him the filling to go with all that veggie goodness but, hey, you pick your battles, folks.

Spoiler: THIS WHOOPIE PIE TURNED OUT TO BE TOTALLY RAD. More importantly, the child ate it.

Yep. He ate it and begged for more. Having tasted the pies of whoopieness, myself, I am totally sold. They pack the electrically sugary punch that a normal whoopie pie might, but the bite of the dark chocolate and the moist density of the cake is ideal for balancing out the sweet filling. We are totally sold.

We already ate the first batch and it’s only been two days. If you have a child who could benefit from some zucchini, try serving this up as your next dessert.

Sneaky Whoopie Pie Recipe

Equipment needed:
Whoopie pie pan
Mixer (could be a hand mixer. I used a stand mixer)
Rubber spatula (optional)
Cooling rack (optional)

For the cake:
I based mine on this recipe from The Joy of Baking, although I changed up the process a little.

Cake Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups shredded raw zucchini (about 1/2 lb.)
1 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C unsweetened natural cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (180 ml) semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1/2 C vegetable, safflower, corn, or canola oil
1/2 C granulated white sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 tsp  pure vanilla extract

As you can see, I peeled the zucchini and shredded it pretty finely. I didn’t squeeze any moisture out, but I also took care that water pooling on the cutting board did not end up in the batter.

Ready to hide in your pies!

Put the oil, sugars, eggs, and vanilla extract into the mixer bowl and mix on medium until it’s well blended. Add the zucchini until it’s blended, as well.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Slowly add the flour mixture to the batter until it’s well combined. I used a low speed for that.

Dump in and mix in the chocolate chips.

When you are finished with the batter, spritz a Wilton Whoopie Pie pan with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350. These pans are readily available at places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond and are quite affordable. You might want two if you want to make a large batch, but you can also manage with one.

Fill each cavity just up to the top. I used a ladle for this.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. When you test the cakes, they should resist your touch a little bit in the middle. If they are soupy or seem wet, give them another minute or two.

So warm and good!

Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Then carefully remove them (a rubber spatula may help) and let them cool on a rack.

Meanwhile, make your filling. We love this one from The All-American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett.

1/3 C white vegetable shortening
1/3 C unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 C powdered sugar
1.5 Tb. light corn syrup
2 tsp. clear imitation vanilla extract* (note: using clear imitation means it will be clear and keep your filling white!)
1/8 tsp. salt
7 oz (1-1/3 C) of marshmallow creme (fluff)

*You can find this where cake decorating items are sold, if not at your grocery store

Put your electric mixer on medium and beat together everything except the marshmallow creme until fluffy. Add the marshmallow creme and beat until evenly combined.

Plop a generous dollop on a piece of cake and top it with another piece. Voila! You have a winner.

Zukes: your days are numbered!

Although this is not conventional wisdom, we wrap these in saran wrap and refrigerate them to eat later. They are easier to handle and they taste just as delicious cold! This is, however, probably not the way we’re supposed to do it. I know they are usually served at room temperature.

So that’s the scoop! My kid is eating zucchini, people. Let’s ignore the marshmallow fluff. One step at a time!

Summer: It’s What’s for Dinner!