Making Whoopie — the Sweetest Pies Ever Come From a Quaint Lancaster Family Bakery: And Now They’re a Hot Holiday Gift Available Online

Have a sweet tooth, or love someone who does? Treat them to a four- or 12-pack of  Tico’s Whoopie Pies this holiday season. For those unfamiliar with the whoopie pie, think of it as the best part of a cupcake — the moist, fluffy top (in this case, two of them) — sandwiched around an unctuous cream filling.

For Tico’s founder, Holly Elizabeth Holleran, it’s a family legacy born in Pennsylvania, handed down by her grandmother Tico and recreated today by locals who bake them daily in Holleran’s quaint bakeshop in Lancaster County. To modernize her Grandmama’s recipe, Holleran has jumbo-sized her whoopies (each can easily satisfy two people) and employs European chocolate along with local buttermilk, butter and eggs.

She offers four fabulous flavors: classic chocolate with vanilla filling; red velvet; pumpkin spice; and, my favorite, chocolate with peanut butter filling. Each is packaged in a gift-worthy Joseph Cornell-inspired box. Best yet, 10 percent of all proceeds online are given each month to a changing charity, as detailed on the website.

Box of four whoopie pies $25, or $55 for a dozen, plus shipping, only through www.ticoswhoopies.com.