Friday, June 28, 2013

Gobs...Part 1

I'm sure anyone outside of my little area of west central Pennsylvania calls these delicious bits whoopie pies, but here we call them gobs. I'm not sure where the word originated, or why it hasn't caught on. It's a perfect word, wouldn't ya say?

Maybe it came from the fact that a slang word for mouth is 'gob' and you can just stuff these into your gob..... one right after the other. I'm pretty sure I've seen male members of my family eat them like they're going out of style.

Anyway, a traditional gob here is of the chocolate variation, but you can get them of all sorts. For instance, pumpkin, peanut butter and jelly, lemon cream, and the list goes on.  So, while browsing the internet one day I came across a different kind. Strawberry milk! I've never had them before so I decided to give them a go. For one, I love strawberry milk. For two, they're different but easy.

I came across this recipe here: Sprinkle Bake

I'm going to tell you right now, mine are not nearly as pretty as the ones on Sprinkle Bake. It was my first go at this recipe and I'm hoping the more I try this and tweak the recipe the better they look for me. Even when I make chocolate gobs (which I have done 100 times) they do not always turn out the exact same every time, because of humidity and other environmental factors that I can not control.  The strawberry milk gobs however were just as tasty as imagined.


Strawberry Milk Gobs
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp white vegetable shortening
3/4 cup powdered strawberry milk mix
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg white
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp white vinegar

Gob Filling
10 tbsp flour
2 c milk
2 c powdered sugar
1 c crisco
1 c butter
1 tsp vanilla

Note: the gob filling instructions are at the end, but I suggest making it first. 


In a mixer, mix together the vegetable shortening, strawberry milk mix and brown sugar. It should be slightly crumbly. While that is mixing, stir the flour, baking powder and salt (set this aside until the end). Add the egg and egg white to the strawberry milk mixture and beat well. Then add the heavy cream and beat until the mixture is smooth.

Now make sour milk by whisking the baking soda and vinegar in with the milk. Whisk until bubbly. Add this mixture to the strawberry milk mixture. Continue mixing. Now slowly add the flour mixture you made earlier. Continue mixing on low speed until thoroughly combined. The mixture will be thick and should look like the picture above.






Use a cookie scoop and place on cookie sheet as shown on the right. Bake at 375 degrees F for 7-10 minutes. On the day I baked them it took exactly 9 minutes. Bake them just until the edges turn golden brown and they are spongy to the touch. If you over bake them they will look more orange in color than pink. Also, they spread very little, so you can probably put them about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. However, this will vary depending on the weather. So, I'd bake the first cookie sheet and see how much the spread for you. 




Make the filling in advance, because the milk and flour mixture needs to cool completely. I use the same gob filling recipe for almost all gobs. Why? Because I hate overly sweet icings and fillings. This one is perfect. It comes from a very old recipe book that my mom got from a church years and years ago. The pages are literally held together by a rubber band, that's how often we use it. 

Mix together the flour and milk until there are no lumps. Cook on stove top over medium heat while whisking until thick. Let this cool completely. Cream together powdered sugar, vegetable shortening, butter and vanilla. Once combined beat in the cooled milk mixture until combined. Then it is ready to spread between two gob halves. Put as much or as little filing as you like.


I don't normally put initials on all my gobs, these were for a bridal shower. Let me know if you give these a try or if you have a favorite gob combination!

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