Follow the recipe - how not to bake whoopie pies

I made some chocolate chip whoopie pies. They look OK, but I didn't enjoy them. Top tip: always follow the recipe.

I read a great blog by the brilliant Dolly Bakes the other week, about when does a recipe become yours - can you make your own recipe, knowing the science behind how much raising agent will impact on the weight of flour... Well, I don't know that much, and ought to trust those who do know enough to write a recipe book.

I didn't have enough plain flour (and again, couldn't be bothered to go to the shops - I wish I lived within walking distance) so I used a bit of self-raising flour as well, and just halved the amount of baking powder. Then, I didn't have enough cocoa powder, so I pretended that wasn't important. I also didn't have any yogurt, so I used buttermilk instead. And I didn't have any chocolate chips, so I just chopped up some chocolate. I didn't have enough dark chocolate, so I used half dark, half milk.

At this point I'm thinking, probably the same as you are, dear reader, why did I bother with a recipe when I didn't have half the correct ingredients?!? I don't know - sometimes you get that baking bug, and you can't ignore it even if your kitchen is empty. But yes, I should have gone to the shops.

Needless to say, the mixture looked rather odd, had a weird consistency, and actually didn't smell that appetising either - I have a sneaky feeling the buttermilk was a little off. They didn't cook in the right shapes, and they certainly didn't taste right.

I let the boyfriend eat them. He thought they were great. But he'll eat anything.

My friend said they looked like baked potatoes. I'd rather eat a baked potato than another of these.