Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Coconut Frosting

I was gone for a conference recently, and my husband had decided to bake a cake while I was gone. It was one of those cakes where you aren’t really sure how much to make frosting wise, so we ended up with a lot of extra frosting. I told my husband to keep it; I was sure that I could use it for something. The easiest thing I could think of was making sandwich cookies, so this week I made whoopie pies.

I’ve made a couple of types of whoopie pies, so I just had to find something that would pair well with coconut cream cheese frosting. I was going to make chocolate chip whoopie pies, but I realized I had made those! I figured I would be safe and just go with chocolate cookies. Chocolate and coconut is a great combination. The original recipe said it only made 15 sandwich cookies, so I made one and one half times the recipe and I ended up with lots and lots of cookies. Silly me.

These cookies have the perfect cakey texture, and would work well with any filling. I love how the random blobs of cookie dough turn into perfectly formed whoopie pies. The cookies aren’t super sweet, which is good since the coconut cream cheese frosting is quite sweet. These cookies are fairly substantial, so one will do it. They weren’t the easiest cookies to transport, but I think they were worth the effort.

 

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Coconut Frosting

2 cups flour

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 1/8 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup milk

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon coconut rum

1 teaspoon vanilla  

16 ounces powdered sugar

Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda. In a large mixer bowl, beat the shortening, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla on medium until combined. Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets with a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop. Allow some space between the cookies.

Bake for 8-10 minutes; the cookies will still be soft and the cookies will spring back if touched lightly on the top. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing with a flat spatula to a wire rack to cool.

Make the frosting: in a large mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, coconut rum, and vanilla on high until smooth. Reduce the speed to medium and gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Continue beating until smooth.

Put the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe the frosting on half of the cookies, and pair together with another cookie. Refrigerate to set the frosting.

Cookie recipe from Bon Appetit

Frosting recipe from Food 52