Homemade Twinkies

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Are you a fan of Twinkies like me? If so, give these homemade Twinkies a try. It is a great little copycat recipe for those famous snacks.

Growing up I ate a lot of those yummy Hostess Twinkies, with their light and fluffy golden sponge cake and delicious cream filling. Did you know you can make something very similar at home?

That’s right these homemade Twinkies are sure to please Twinkie lovers everywhere. While the sponge cake isn’t exactly the same, which is very hard to duplicate, it still tastes great! And these homemade Twinkies are so easy to make. If I can do it, you can do it. Let’s get baking!

Step 1: Gather the ingredients

In order to make these copycat homemade Twinkies you need just a handful of ingredients:

• Pound cake mix – Or you can use this homemade sponge cake recipe.
• Water
• Egg whites

Filling

• Hot water
• Salt
• Marshmallow cream
• Powdered sugar – Also known as confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar.
• Vanilla extract
• Shortening or butter

Tools

• Aluminum Foil or Twinkie Pan
• Spatula
• Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
• Bowls
• Piping bag or zip lock bag with injection tip
• Kitchen spray

Step 2: How to make homemade Twinkies

Preheat the oven to 325 F/162 C. Then let’s make some homemade Twinkie pans. If you have a specialty Twinkie pan, then you can skip this part.

Take a large rectangle piece of aluminum foil and fold it over twice to make a smaller layered rectangle. Fold it around a spice container. Which happens to be fairly close to the size of a Twinkie. Once baked they do come out quite a bit larger than store-bought Twinkies.

After you fold it around the container, fold in the ends to completely enclose it. Remove the container and place it in a 13×9 inch baking pan.

There you go, you have several little Twinkie boat pans. Again if you already have a specific pan, you can just use that, instead of making these makeshift homemade pans. Lightly spray the pans with some oil to keep the cake from sticking when baked.

Step 3: Make the Twinkie cake batter

For the cake part of the Twinkies, you can use a variety of recipes. In this case, I used a modified pound cake mix. But you can use your favorite sponge cake recipe or mine if you like as well.

Pour the pound cake mix into a bowl, then add in the water and mix until well blended.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put the egg whites in a medium bowl. Beat the egg whites until you get stiff peaks. When you pull up the beaters, the peaks that are made should keep their shape.

Now fold the egg whites into the cake batter, creating a nice light and fluffy cake batter. Do not stir and don’t use a mixer, just use a spatula and fold them in, until just combined.

Step 4: Bake the homemade Twinkies cakes

Use a ladle or measuring cup and fill up the little mini pans about half full. This will make about 10 homemade Twinkies, depending on the size you make them.

Bake them in the oven, middle rack position, for 25 to 30 minutes until when you poke them in the middle with a toothpick, the toothpick comes out clean.

Once they are done baking, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely. This will take about 30 to 45 minutes.

Step 5: Make the homemade Twinkies filling

In a large bowl add the salt to the hot water until dissolved. Then add the marshmallow cream, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and shortening or butter to the bowl. Mix everything together with a hand mixer or stand mixer until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

The homemade Twinkies filling is complete. Scoop the filling into a pastry bag fitted with an injector tip. If you don’t have a piping bag you can use a zip lock freezer bag or something and snip off the corner. Twist the top and the bag is ready to go.

Take a homemade Twinkie and remove the aluminum foil from it. Use a bamboo skewer or chopstick, and poke three holes in the bottom of the Twinkie. Wiggle it at an angle so it makes the hole on the inside larger and creates a cavity.

Now all you need to do is pipe that filling into the Twinkie. You will notice the homemade Twinkies will get heavier as you fill them. You can wipe the excess filling off the top if you like or leave it as is.

Now the only thing left to do is take a big bite out of those homemade Twinkies. Enjoy!

How long do homemade Twinkies last?

They will last a few days at room temperature if stored in an airtight container. Or about a week in the fridge.

Here are some other recipes you may like:

Chocolate Magic Cake

Easy Pecan Pie

Snickers Crisper Copycat Recipe

Oreo Twix Cookie Bars

Apple Hand Pies

Homemade Rolos

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