Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies

This year at work we tried something a little different and formed a committee to plan the Christmas party. We decided to change things up a bit from the previous years. We added a few games and etc etc. The most important change for me was of course food related. Instead of using the store bought cookies and cakes, the committee made desserts and brought them in! Silly me, I said I would bring in Whoopie Pies. 

The reason I say silly me is because I had to make around 200! If you've ever made Whoopie Pies, you'll know where I'm coming from. It didn't help that the party fell on one of the busiest weeks of my life. I had to bake the Whoopie Pies over a few days and freeze them. It all worked out just right and the pies were the biggest hit at the party. People were still talking about them two days later. 

I made three different kinds of Whoopie Pies for the party; the classic hit Pumpkin, traditional Chocolate, and Chocolate Peppermint. The Pumpkin were the most talked about and probably moved the fastest, but the Chocolate Peppermint would have won if I had made more. Regardless, they were all gone by the end of the night!

The recipe that follows is for both the Chocolate and Chocolate Peppermint. They are the same cake recipe, but have a slightly different filling. The Chocolate Peppermint are also rolled in crushed peppermint candy. Yum! 

The recipe comes from this allrecipes.com recipe. I decided to try a different recipe than I had used on Chocolate Whoopie Pies previously. Allrecipes.com is always my go to for recipes. If you haven't checked out the site, DO IT! The Chocolate Whoopie Pies turned out and they taste great, but they didn't bake up enough for me. They kind of just went flat. I plan to try this recipe again soon and change a few things. I'll be sure to update when I do! For now, here is their recipe and my version of Peppermint Whoopie Pie Filling

Chocolate Whoopie Pies VIII

via http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whoopie-pies-viii/

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour milk
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup hot water
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup of shortening and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time then stir in the vanilla and sour milk. Combine the flour, cocoa and salt, stir into the creamed mixture. Stir together the baking soda and hot water then mix them into the batter last. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm but not overbaked. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
4. Sandwich at least 1 tablespoon of filling between the flat sides of two cookies.

Peppermint Whoopie Pie Filling

Ingredients

1 cup solid vegetable shortening

2 cups marshmallow cream
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4-6 drops pure mint flavor/oil

Directions

Beat together the shortening and marshmallow cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly add sugar and mix until light and fluffy.

Add in the extracts.

Place filling in a decorating bag and fill Whoopie Pies as directed above.