Banana Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup greek yogurt
3/4 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 ounces cream cheese
1 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

1. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl, set aside.
2. Beat butter and both sugars until light in color.
3. Add in sour cream, banana, egg, and vanilla extract.
4. Pour flour mixture into banana mixture. With a rubbber spatula, gently stir just until combined.
5. Drop batter by the heaping teaspoonful onto parchment. Leave about one inch of space between cookies.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool and pipe cream cheese filling onto half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies…Enjoy!

I know, I usually make desserts — But having a good friend that is a farmer at the best vegetable farm in the east coast, I had to write a post about these greens and the odd looking blood orange I found at my grocery store. I mean, really, have you seen an uglier fruit? And check out that 1/2 inch thick pith!

My friend Hubert is a farmer at Windfall Farms and brought us these beautiful winter pea shoots. He told us the best way to eat greens likes these is to just dress them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice — and enjoy. In addition to the blood orange segments, I also added a shaved parmesan cheese. The dish was very crisp, refreshing, and the greens were, well, just damn good. If you are in the New York area, I suggest you go out and get some greens from these guys.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

You can find Windfall’s lime green school bus every Wednesday and Saturday at the Union Square greenmarket.

Photo: Danielle Bilton

I usually have a lot of success with any/all of Sherry Yard’s recipes, this was not one of them. For this post, I chose to make her “Homemade Twix Cookies”. It all sounded and looked great. But when I got down to actually biting into one of these, it was not what I had expected. There was way too much caramel and too much chocolate (a mistake on my part). So, the recipe I am going to give you is a full shortbread recipe, and half of the caramel recipe. I would also recommend skipping the ganache layer, as it was just too sweet. Also, to give the cookie an extra layer of texture, try adding chopped toasted peanuts to the caramel.

Source: Sherry Yard’s Desserts by the Yard

SHORTBREAD:
51/2 ounces (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tablespoons ground rice (regular rice processed until ground, then passed through a sifter to get rid of chunks) (optional, I think. I didn’t use rice)

FOR THE CARAMEL TOPPING:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup (available at most supermarkets and at whole foods stores)
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup chopped toasted nuts

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. MAKE THE SHORTBREAD: Place a rack in the lowest position of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-X-13-inch baking pan with pan spray and line with parchment paper. Spray the parchment.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the flour and ground rice and allow the dough to come together.
3. Remove from the bowl and press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pan from front to back and bake for another 8 minutes, until the shortbread is a deep golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack to room temperature.
4. MAKE THE CARAMEL: In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, golden syrup, water, and lemon juice. Brush down the inside of the pan with a little water, using your hand to feel for stray granules of sugar. Cover the saucepan and place it over medium heat for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat, and bring to a boil. Do not stir from this point on. Keep an eye on the pan. The mixture will be very bubbly. When stray sugar crystals appear on the sides of the pan, brush them down with a clean wet pastry brush. As the sugar cooks, the bubbles will get larger.
5. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.
6. After 5 to 6 minutes, the sugar will turn golden brown. Insert a candy thermometer and when the temperature reaches 300°F, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for 1minute, or until the bubbles subside. Carefully whisk in the heavy cream. Stir until smooth, then whisk in the condensed milk. Whisk until smooth.
7. Return the pan to the heat and stir constantly over medium heat until the caramel reaches 240°F. Remove from the heat and pour over the shortbread. Allow to set.
8. MAKE THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE: Melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl at 50 percent power for 2 to 3 minutes or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour over the caramel and smear evenly. Let sit at room temperature or in the refrigerator until set.
9. Cut into the desired size and serve. (The cookies will keep, stored airtight, for 1 day.)

The next cake was for a sweet 16. I was told by my client, the birthday girl loved oreo cookies. Wanting to surprise the birthday girl, I chopped up some oreos and baked them into the chocolate cake layers.

The zebra print is hand cut fondont on buttercream and brushed with edible silver glitter.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton