Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Ah, what to make for Valentine’s Day? I wanted to make something festive for the holiday, but I was at a loss. At first I had thought of red velvet cake, somehow made into cookies, but my initial search for recipes didn’t find anything. My husband was looking and found a couple of recipes that used cinnamon red hots, but while he was searching he came across this recipe, which was just what I was looking for!

I’m quite fascinated by red velvet cake. To make it so red, you have to use an entire bottle of red food coloring. I’m a little worried that I’ve hopelessly stained a couple kitchen towels, but we will see how they do in the wash. The dough is somewhat similar to a cake batter, a little softer than you would expect for cookie dough. I used my small cookie scoop to shape the cookies and that worked great. I wanted the cookies to be nice and smooth, so I did smooth the tops of the cookies before baking, I don’t think that I needed to do that, but I wanted them to look nice.

I filled the cookies and squished them together into sandwiches. They are quite soft when you assemble them, so you have to be careful not to press too hard and have all of the filling squish out of the sides. Oh, these are so good! You’re not quite sure what to expect because of the color, but they are great. The cookies have a cakey consistency and have a subtle chocolate flavor. The filling I could make and put it on anything. That really makes the cookies. Yum!

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup buttermilk

1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring (2 tablespoons)

Filling

¼ cup butter, softened

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

7 oz. jar marshmallow crème

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats. In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium to high 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 batter on prepared baking sheet using a small cookie scoop (about 1 teaspoon). Allow 1 inch between each round. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until tops are set. Cool completely on baking sheets on rack.

Make the filling: In medium mixing bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in one 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme.

To fill, dollop whoopie pie filling on flat sides of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down. Store in the refrigerator.

Recipe from http://www.thestate.com/food/story/623712.html