Hoopie Pies

March madness is upon us! As I'm sitting here, Hunter Hann and I are watching the first round of the NCAA tournament and he is scratching off the loosing teams on our brackets and circiling the winners.
My bracket is winning! That's neither here nor there.

Hoopie Pies 

I thought these little basketball whoopie pies would be perfect for this time of year. And the name, "HOOP"IE PIES! Come on, you know it's cute! 

The Sweet Sixteen starts next weekend, then the Elite Eight, then the Final Four, then the Championship game. Surely you can come up with one excuse to make these cute little pies. :)

A few notes before we get started. For the frosting, I made half a batch of my regular cream cheese frosting recipe. You do not have to make frosting if you are just going to serve these as little decorated cakes though. I did use a whoopie pie pan for this recipe, but this batter is THICK, so you could probably get away with out one. I got mine at Williams-Sonoma, but I have seen them at Hobby Lobby, Michael's and Walmart. Also, the reason these hoopie pies are so pretty and orange is because there is pumpkin puree in them, as well as Wilton's orange icing color. I got my icing color and my black sparkle gel at Walmart. 

Ok, enough information. We have hoopie pies to make.....and eat!

Hoopie Pies

adapted from my halloween whoopie pies

    makes 9 whoopie pies, 18 cakes 

1 1/8 C all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda 

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (homemade or store bought)

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 C light brown sugar

1/4 C butter, softened (1/2 stick)

3/4 C pumpkin puree

1/2 an egg* or 2 T egg substitute

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Wilton's orange icing color

Wilton's black sparkle gel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt. 

*In a small dish, beat egg. In a medium bowl, stir together the brown sugar and butter until smooth. Mix in pumpkin. Add half of the beaten egg; discard the rest. Mix in vanilla. Dip the end of a knife in the orange gel and add the color to the bowl. Stir. Add flour mixture to wet mixture and stir just to combine.

Spray the whoopie pan with Baker's Joy. Fill each well of the whoopie pie pan about 3/4th the way full, or about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter in each. {This batter is VERY thick, so I used the back of a spoon to move it around a little so it would be smooth on top}. Bake for 9-10 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Cool in pans, on cooling rack for a few minutes, then turn pan over and let pies fall out. Cool completely on rack before frosting or decorating. Use black sparkle gel to make the lines like on a basketball, and to write logos or letters.

Cream Cheese Frosting

    makes 1/2 batch of frosting

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 C butter (1/2 stick)

1 tsp vanilla

1 C powdered sugar

Cream the cream cheese and the butter together in mixer with the flat paddle attachment until smooth. Add in the vanilla and mix. Add in the powdered sugar and turn the mixer on low, then crank it up until the frosting is smooth. I used an off set spatula to frost the hoopie pies, but you could also use a piping bag. I used cream cheese frosting because I think it goes nicely with the pumpkin but you could use regular butter cream or other combinations. Store leftovers in the fridge.

I really love the way the black sparkle gel looks on the pies for the basketball stripes! If you cannot find that product, you can always melt down some chocolate or candy discs and pipe the lines with that.

These basketball whoopie pies are perfect for any type of basketball watch party or get together. These would also be great for a basketball or sports theme birthday party. Writing names on the pies would be a cute way to individualize them!  

So who will you be cheering for in the trournament? Well, even though my Oklahoma State Cowboys didn't make it into the tournament this year, I am still loyal and true to my alma mater and made an OSU hoopie pie.

And of course, my husband's Kansas Jayhawks DID make it, so we will be rooting for them. :)

I hope you give these hoopie pies a try! They are so fun and festive. Also, for your next football party {or to go along with your sports bdday parties}, try my football whoopie pies!

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