How to make DIY Macarons and Whoopie Pies at home

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DIY Macarons & Whoopie Pies – easy as…err…pie

My love of baking is well documented on this blog. Food blogger I am not, however I love to cook sweet treats. We had a big family shindig on the weekend and I decided to take not one but two tasty desserts (I’m good like that – invite me to your next BBQ or dinner party and I won’t disappoint).

However, instead of making something from scratch or creating my own recipe, I went with two packet mixes. These weren’t no ordinary cake mixes though. Behold:

Betty Crocker Chocolate and Vanilla Whoopie Pies and Donna Hay Almond Macaron With Chocolate Filling. Hello, calorietown.

I was pretty confident with the whoopie pies, so I decided to make the macarons first since there was greater potential for error (i.e. if I screwed them, I would have time up my sleeve to make something else).

They were remarkably easy. Like, really easy. Donna Hay is a saint – the instructions were clear, it didn’t take long to prepare the mixture, and the only extra things I needed were water and some cream. Handy hint: I drew circles on the baking paper as a guide so that all my halves were roughly the same size to easily match them up into pairs.

If the macarons were easy, then the whoopie pies were no effort at all. It’s basically a packet cake mix, but instead of putting the mix in a pan, you plop it onto baking paper. Same deal – I drew circles in texta on the baking paper and then flipped it over (texta doesn’t taste so good) so they acted as a guide. This mix also requires an egg, veggie oil and some milk – all stuff I assume you have already? Maybe not, if you’re lactose intolerant.

Both of these get my seal of approval and will be pulled out again in future. Someone even told me they had recently read that whoopie pies are apparently the new macaron. Typical me, always ahead of the curve.

Donna Hay Almond Macaron with Chocolate Filling
Price: $7.99 – cheaper than a half dozen from Lindt
From: Coles

Betty Crocker Chocolate Whoopie Pie
Price: I think I bought it on special for $4, normally $5.55
From: Coles

Update: I made the Whoopie Pies again and added a layer of strawberry jam to the middle. Holy shit. Although I would say raspberry > strawberry.

*I just thought I would mention, while it might look like I have some sort of affiliation with Coles, it’s only because I live across the street from them and do all my shopping there.
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9 Responses to "DIY Macarons & Whoopie Pies – easy as…err…pie"


Andi
November 6, 2011 at 10:44 pm

The Donna Hay mixes are so freaking good. The chocolate cup cakes are my go to – they're rich and have amazing icing, and don't taste anything like a packet mix! The give away is the Donna Hay cup cake patty, but I usually substitute that so that I look awesome

Elise @ StuffThatIBought
November 6, 2011 at 11:40 pm

The cupcakes are next on my list, along with the molton choc brownies. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

Elle
November 7, 2011 at 4:24 am

Did they taste good? That is a really great idea to make

Elise @ StuffThatIBought
November 7, 2011 at 4:42 am

Elle, they tasted amazing! The chocolate in the macarons was really rich, but it was balanced by the not-so-sweet almond. And the whoopie pies were like little mouthfuls of cake.

Elle
November 7, 2011 at 5:22 am

Yummmm I am going to buy them!

Maddi H
November 7, 2011 at 6:17 am

i made chocolate mint macarons from scratch, and the time they took was so worth it! as for whoopie pies, the recipe i saw required a special pan, but now i'm inspired to just draw the circles.
i guess my family will have a sweet week!

Elise @ StuffThatIBought
November 7, 2011 at 6:54 am

Oh wow Maddi, mint and choc macarons! I'm wondering if you could substitute the almond out of the Donna Hay mix and put something else in instead – perhaps that's a challenge for later this week.

MsCritique.com
November 8, 2011 at 5:47 am

This post was written for me. I should buy shares in Donna Hay. Macarons in a packet – yes please. This post is being filed away under 'OMGAREYOUFOREALZ'. Love love love! Salivating just thinking about it.

lau@corridorkitchen
November 13, 2011 at 7:55 am

I've noticed those Donna Hay packet mixes in the supermarket and was curious about them. Good to see they are so simple to prepare. Might have to give them a go!