Whoopie Pies With Mint Filling : Free and Easy Bake-Along #31 - Theme : Whoopie Pies

It's time for our Bake-Along! Our baking buddy, Zoe of  Bake For Happy Kids has chosen Whoopie Pies for our theme bake. I have not made Whoopie Pies before this and it has always been on my list of to do. Thanks to Zoe for chosing this for our Bake-Along.

These Whoopie Pies are delightful and we really enjoyed them, a lot! Even though I can find lots of recipes of various Whoopie Pies online, I was really surprised that out of the many cookbooks that I own, only one of my books has a recipe for Whoopie Pies, and that book is Rose's Heavenly Cakes. But when I was browsing thru Bon Appetit's website, this Whoopie Pies with Mint Filling looks good, so I made this instead. And my daughter loves anything with mint and chocolate!

The original recipe calls for extra chocolate ganache over the buttercream, but I chose to omit that. And one of the ingredients for the buttercream is egg whites, and I omitted that as well. I am not a fan of raw eggs  in bakes, and the minty buttercream is extremely good without it. Take note that when placed in an air-tight container for storage, place them in a single layer, do not stack them up, as they sticks to each other! And would not look pretty once you remove them!

We really enjoyed eating these Whoopie Pies, the cookie-cake is really soft, moist and fluffy. The minty buttercream is a delight and put them together, you would not stop at just one! 

Let's visit my baking buddies, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and all our baking friends who has baked along with us in the linky below.  For our next bake, we will be baking Everyday Yoghurt Cake from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman, page 50 or you may get the recipe here. The linky will start on 12th Sept right up to 18th Sept. Do join us, everyone's welcome.

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1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

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Whoopie Pies with Mint Filling
(adapted from : Bon Appetit)
Makes 15 sandwiched cookies
For the cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
5 tablespoons unsweetended cocoa powder
1-1/8 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated solid vegetable shortening or unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature (I use salted butter)
1 cup sugar (I use 170gm)
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk

For the Mint Filling
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons nonhydrogenated solid vegetable shortening or unsalted butter, room temperature (I use salted butter)
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 cup egg whites, from about 2 large eggs (I did not use this)
3 to 4 drops green food colouring

Preparation :

For The Cookies : 

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat shortening (or butter), sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in large bowl until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beating well until blended after each addition.

Drop dough by very rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Bake 1 sheet at a  time until cookies are slightly puffed and spread but are still soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes. Carefully transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.

DO AHEAD : Cookies can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight in single layer at room temperature.

For The Mint Filling :

Using electric mixer, beat shortening (or butter), peppermint extract, and vanilla in large metal bowl until blended. Add powdered sugar, egg whites, and pinch of salt, beat until light and fluffy. Add food colouring drop by drop for desired shade of green; beat until well blended. If mixture looks curdled, place bowl over low heat several seconds and beat until smooth. Repeat as necessary until smooth.

Spoon mint filling into pastry bag fitted with medium star tip (or spoon filling into resealable plastic bag, squeezing filling into 1 corner of bag, then cut off 1/4 inch of plastic bag corner to allow for piping). Starting at outer edge of bottom (flat side) of  one half cookies and working toward center, pipe mint filling in spiral. Place one half cookie over mint-filled cookie and pressing slightly to adhere.

DO AHEAD : Can be made 2 hours ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

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