Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Cream

5 from 1 vote

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Cream

Soft and fluffy red velvet cookies sandwiched with a creamy peppermint filling are one of the best treats to make this holiday season – and they’re easier than ever!

Prep Time1 hr 30 mins

Cook Time24 mins

Refrigerator Time2 hrs

Total Time3 hrs 54 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: pies

Calories: 270kcal

Author: CaliGirl Cooking

Ingredients

For the cookies:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons Sonoma Syrup Co. Vanilla Bean Extract "Crush"
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup buttermilk
1 ounce red food coloring (1 small bottle)

For the peppermint cream:

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar sifted
1/4 cup marshmallow fluff
2 tablespoons Sonoma Syrup Co. Peppermint Syrup

Other:

5 ounces crushed peppermint candies

Instructions

To make the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then mix in the egg and vanilla extract until combined.
In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix to combine. The dough will look dry and crumbly at this point.
Finally, add the buttermilk and red food coloring to this mixture. At this point, the batter should no longer be dry and should have a much smoother consistency.
Using a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop, scoop the batter onto your prepared cookie sheets and bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes (or until the cookies look set, not wet, but not brown), rotating the trays halfway through.

To make the peppermint cream:

Combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the clean bowl of your stand mixer (you'll need to wash it after making your cookie dough) until smooth, then add in the marshmallow fluff and finally the peppermint syrup.

To assemble the whoopie pies:

Spoon the filling into a piping bag and pipe approximately 1-2 tablespoons of the filling onto half of the cookies, making sure you're generous enough with it to cover the entire cookie and have enough to roll into the crushed peppermint later.
Place the non-frosted cookies on top of the frosted ones and place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, or in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Remove the whoopie pies from the refrigerator or freezer. Pour the crushed peppermint pieces onto a plate and roll each pie in them.
Store pies in the refrigerator until ready to serve, up to one week.

Notes

If you don't have a big chunk of time, you can make the cookies and filling separately and assemble them at another time altogether.
Use a Mason jar to hold up your pastry bag as you fill it with the peppermint cream.
Feel free to mix up the flavors by substituting another type of simple syrup, or by using an extract instead of syrup. If you use an extract, you will only need 1-2 teaspoons of it.
These whoopie pies can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.
You can purchase all of the Sonoma Syrup Co. products I included in this recipe here.

Nutrition