Ah Twinkies! Those spongy, cream filled nuclear-holocaust surviving snack cakes were for many of us, the stuff of happy childhood memories. This recipe is a great version of the famous pastry without all the added preservatives, food coloring, and other scary stuff.

Concerned about eggs? We have also published an allergen free version of this recipe here!

You will also need to purchase cream canoe mold pans, make your own (instructions below), or use a cupcake tin for the recipe.
This recipe makes 10-12 cream canoes, or 12 cupcakes. For another blast from the past, use our Chocolate Cake Mix, and make ‘devil dogs’!

For the cake
1 box Better Batter gluten-free yellow cake mix
water, oil, and eggs as called for on the box

For the filling
1/2 cup vegetable shortening or organic solid shortening such as Spectrum
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (most pure vanilla extract is gluten-free; some imitation extracts contain gluten)
1 drop lemon extract
1/8 teaspoon molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
Grease cream canoe pan lightly. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of mixer, combine cake mix, water, oil, and eggs, as directed on box.

Divide cake batter (about 4 tbsp per mold) evenly among 10-12 greased cream canoe molds. Bake 30 minutes or until sides are golden and top is firm. Note that the color of the cake mix may remain light. Remove cakes from molds immediately to a rack to cool completely.

To make filling, in bowl of mixer beat together shortening, powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon extract and molasses until very smooth. Add salt water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all water is incorporated. Beat on high speed for at least 3 minutes and up to 10 minutes. Place filling in a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.

When cakes are cool, gently use a toothpick or skewer to form three holes, evenly spaced, along the bottoms of the cakes. Use the skewer to gently enlarge the spaces within the cake to allow for filling.

Pipe 1 to 2 teaspoons of filling into each hole. You will see the cake expand slightly and may hear a small “puff” as the cavity fills. Stop when the filling begins to come out of the hole around your decorating tip.

Store Twinkies, covered, for up to 1 week.

Make Your Own Cream Canoe Pans

10 sheets foil, 10×10 inches, folded in half.

1 spice bottle (about 3.5-4 inches long)

Place doubled foil on a flat surface and lay spice bottle on top. Fold ends and sides in until just touching the bottle, then bring the sides up to wrap around sides. You will need to wrap the ends around the sides to seal – think of gift wrapping., press tightly. Repeat.