The Iconic Olive Oil Cake
I don’t know how many of you remember this but, in the midst of quarantine, the olive oil cake from Little House Confections blew up. Don’t quote me on this, but I think one of the Kardashian’s or Jenner’s shared it on social media and suddenly it was everywhere. From what I’ve gathered, it’s an olive oil cake (duh) that has hints of orange throughout. I, personally, haven’t had the chance to try this iconic cake, but I was definitely inspired by the flavor combination. Instead of making a whole cake, I decided to switch it up and create a whoopie pie version of it! And thus, these Citrus & Rosemary Olive Oil Whoopie Pies were born!
Whoopie Pie Heaven
If you’ve never had or heard of a whoopie pie, it’s essentially frosting sandwiched between two muffin tops. Or you can think of it as a cookie sandwich, but instead of a chewy cookie, its a cakey cookie! Can’t go wrong with that can you?!
Again, since I’ve never tried the Little House Confection’s cake, I have no idea if it tastes anything like it. Regardless, I think these Citrus & Rosemary Olive Oil Whoopie Pies are absolutely delicious! In my version, I added in lemon zest as well as orange zest, rosemary, and cornmeal. The olive oil, citrus, and rosemary pair so well together to create the most delicious aroma. I could seriously be content with just smelling them as they bake in the oven it’s that good. The touch of cornmeal also gives the whoopie pie a little bite to it! These babies are then filled with a citrus buttercream that ties everything together!
Fresh and Warm
These Citrus & Rosemary Olive Oil Whoopie Pies are insanely good — don’t even get me started on eating them when they’re still a little warm. Freshly baked, warm sweets absolutely hit different! Try this recipe out and let me know what you think! Thanks for joining me today and I’ll talk to you in the next post!
Citrus & Rosemary Olive Oil Whoopie Pies
Ingredients
For the Whoopie Pies
- 1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup Cornmeal
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 Large Egg
- 1/2 cup Buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 tbsp white vinegar)
- 1/2 cup Olive Oil
- 1/2 tbsp Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary
- 1/2 tbsp Orange Zest
- 1/2 tbsp Lemon Zest
For the Citrus Buttercream
- 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Orange Zest
- 1/2 tsp Lemon Zest
- 2 cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
For the Whoopie Pies
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line a few baking trays with parchment paper and set them aside for later.
- Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl. Mix the ingredients together with a whisk until combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, buttermilk, olive oil, chopped rosemary, lemon zest, and orange zest. Pour the wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients.
- Mix everything together with a rubber spatula until well combined. For each whoopie pie, scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter onto the prepared baking sheets and spread the batter out into a circle 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Space each whoopie pie 2 inches apart.
- Bake the whoopie pies in the oven for 10-11 minutes. When a toothpick is inserted into the center of a whoopie pie it should come out clean. Transfer the whoopie pies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
To Make the Citrus Buttercream
- Add the butter, vanilla extract, salt, orange zest, and lemon zest to a bowl. Cream the ingredients together until combined. Then add in the powdered sugar and mix until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag and cut off the tip.
- When the whoopie pies have cooled, pipe the buttercream onto the bottom of one whoopie pie and sandwich another whoopie pie on top. Enjoy!
