Mainers from all sixteen counties submitted the more-then-200 recipes contained in the Maine Bicentennial Community Cookbook, published in 2020 by Islandport Press. Margaret Hathaway and Karl Schatz compiled and edited the collection in celebration of Maine’s 200th year of statehood. This recipe for whoopie pies came from Amos Orcutt, former president of the University of Maine Foundation, who pushed the state to declare the classic cookie sandwich as Maine’s official state treat in 2011.

INGREDIENTS:
Cookie:
• ½ cup shortening
• 1½ cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• ½ cup sour milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2⅔ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Filling:
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup milk
• ¾ cup shortening
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
To make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream the shortening.
Add sugar and eggs and mix well. Mix the cocoa with ½ cup hot water and add to the shortening mixture. Add the milk and vanilla and mix well. Sift together all the dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture. Drop by the teaspoonful on a cookie sheet and flatten down slightly with bottom of a glass dipped in water. Bake for approximately 19 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

To make the filling: Mix the flour with milk in a small saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until thickened. Cool to lukewarm, and add shortening, sugar, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until creamy, about 5 minutes. Spread the filling between two cooled cookies.