No Big Whoop: Hammond's Whoopie Pie Candy Bar





Traditional Whoopie Pies
Photo Courtesy of King Arthur Flour

I was lucky to grow up in Central Pennsylvania, where a very strong Pennsylvania Dutch cooking tradition permeated my grandmother and mother's kitchens.  This tradition included both savory and sweet dishes, from Chicken Pot Pie to Whoopie Pies.  When my mother made whoopie pies from scratch, which was thankfully often, I eagerly waited to lick the mixer beaters when she was done.   


When I heard that Hammond's Candies out of Denver, Colorado, was releasing a Whoopie Pie candy bar, I was intrigued.  Touted as a "dark chocolate shell with a sweet sugar frosting filling," Hammond's Whoopie Pie bar sounded promising, but I wondered how well the delightful confection I grew up with would be captured in a candy bar.  For those unfamiliar, a whoopie pie is something of a pastry hybrid, where two moist, soft chocolate cookies with a cake consistency form a sandwich with a creamy filling that could be used to frost a cake.  While whoopie pies now include a diverse group of flavor combinations, the original version has a chocolate cookie outside with a vanilla frosting center. 

Without a doubt, the Hammond's Whoopie Pie bar is a very good chocolate bar just like every other chocolate bar in their line.  But unfortunately, it tastes nothing like a whoopie pie.  The chocolate is too dark and bitter and it completely overwhelms the frosting taste.  The beauty of a whoopie pie is the balance between chocolate and frosting, which is totally lost in this bar.  In fact, if the wrapper hadn't mentioned the frosting or it hadn't been visible inside the chocolate shell, I would never have known it was there.  I simply would've thought I was eating a very good dark chocolate bar.   Perhaps Hammond's should have tried a milk chocolate or a dark chocolate with a lower cocoa content to try to keep the frosting from being lost. 

I'm sure many people unfamiliar with whoopie pies will enjoy this bar, but for someone like me, who lives where whoopie pies are sold at every farmer's market, roadside stand, and grocery store and are often made in home kitchen as well, this bar will most likely disappoint.   Although I love the Hammond's line and think it is truly one of the best premium chocolate bar lines on the market today, their Whoopie Pie bar falls short.