Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Yes, these are real. Yes, I made them. Yes, I'm a hero. A friend of mine had me over for dinner a couple of weeks ago, and I was making the sweet to go with her savory. Of all the recipe ideas she sent me, this was the most appealing, and my taste buds told me I chose correctly. These are from Better Homes and Gardens, and I'd say the recipe's a home run. Oh. My. Goodness. Make these. Don't wait for Valentine's Day to come back around - make them now!

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

chefjennylyn.com

2 cups flour
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp. red food coloring

8 oz. cream cheese
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Medium bowl: combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt. Whisk together, and set aside.

Large bowl: Beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition, just until combined. Stir in food coloring.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough on baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.

Bake 9-11 minutes or until tops are set. Cool completely on cooking racks.

For filling, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Beat in vanilla extract until combined. Pipe on half of the cookies, and sandwich the others on top.

Leveling your flour makes a huge difference. That's the difference between 1 cup and 1 1/4 cups. Anyway, I have it in the Measuring Cup Set, and I'm adding it to the 2-Qt. Stainless Mixing Bowl.

I know I say this on every recipe, but prep work makes a huge difference when baking or cooking. It's so nice to just add ingredients when the recipe says instead of fumbling around to find what you need in the middle of assembly. My baking soda is in an Adjustable Measuring Spoon, and my food coloring is in the Easy Read Mini Measuring Cup. I'm using my favorite bowls in the world - the Stainless Mixing Bowls, of course. I normally set prepped ingredients on the Cutting Board to keep from messing up my workspace.

No, this egg isn't bad. I just figure if I'm going to add the egg and vanilla at the same time, I might as well have them in the same bowl. I love the Prep Bowls for making sure my eggs are ok and I don't have shell in them. My buttermilk is in an Easy Read Measuring Cup, and it's ready to join the flour mixture in my "light, fluffy butter mixture" after the egg. The Stainless Whisk is a kitchen must-have. You'll love it, I promise!

Now for the easy part - sandwiching the cookies. The Medium Scoop makes this so simple, and it keeps the filling looking good. I'm putting all of these on the Cake Pedestal, one of my favorite products. I love that I can take it off its base to use as a flat platter if I want. Of course that also makes it easy to wash in the dishwasher. Win.

Ok, so I LOVE these cookies! The great thing about whoopie pies is that you're eating two cookies for the price of one. By price, I mean shame... not calories. Color these green, and enjoy them for St. Patrick's Day in a few weeks. Send me a picture if you do that!

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