Fancy Pies that yell Whoopie!!!

I have a bad history with whoopie pies. The last two times I made them I had a fire in the oven. So that's neat. Ugh. Sometimes you just want redemption. We had a department potluck at work and I decided to make something handheld and easy to eat. The next day we had our annual "grazing" party each year at work. Everyone in the building is to bring an appetizer or a sweet to share and for several hours - we just eat, and eat and eat.
I decided to make whoopie pies - granted I can't spell them to save my life, but I was able to make them this time without an oven fire. I feel like I've grown in my baking abilities.
We had just been gone to celebrate Christmas with Andy's family and I needed something somewhat easy, which these aren't like a boxed brownie mix (which is stupid easy) these were simple to get in the oven and the filling easy enough to mix up. People seemed to like them - they went quick. I was able to serve them at both work functions - they stayed plenty fresh for both events. Of course, now no one needs to eat for a very long time. I have a book somewhere on how to make endless kinds of whoopie pies - perhaps I'll dig it out and try a few more flavors, my coworkers thankfully will try just about everything.

Whoopie Pies

For the Batter
½ cup unsweetened cocoa (we used Nestle’s Special Dark)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable shortening (we used Crisco)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Filling
8 ounces marshmallow fluff (half of a 16-ounce container)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
½ cup vegetable shortening (we used Crisco)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Approximately 1 tablespoon milk (to get filling to good consistency)
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir to mix. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the shortening and sugar. Add egg, milk, and vanilla extract and mix well.
Slowly add dry mixture to the mixing bowl with the wet mixture and mix well.
Using a medium (1½ ounce) scoop, place scoops of the batter onto the prepared cookie sheets (about 12 per sheet).
Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 6-7 minutes (they may look a little bit wet on top but that is OK). With a spatula, remove immediately to cool on a wire cooling rack.
Once the cake mounds have cooled completely, prepare the filling by combining the marshmallow fluff, confectioners’ sugar, shortening and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until completely combined. Add milk as necessary to get to a soft (but not too soft consistency.)
Using a scoop, place a dollop of the filling in the center of the flat side of one cake. Place a matching piece of cake against the filling and push to spread the filling evenly between the two halves. Repeat until all of the pies have been filled.