Before I get into this let me state for the record: macarons & whoopie pies are NOT the new cupcakes. Sorry, Bon Appétit. Cupcakes have been around for over 200 years, and they’ll be around for 200 more. How can you replace a portable, individual cake with two flat Amish cookies filled with frosting or a snooty, tempermental almond puff? Don’t get me wrong, I love whoopie pies, I love cookies, I love macarons… but I also love cupcakes. My blog name is Cupcake Rehab, for cupcakes’ sake. And this blog is way more than cupcakes- it’s meals, it’s breakfasts, it’s cookies, etc. I just happen to think the “cupcake trend” is over-hyped and over-thought. It’s not that big of a deal, guys. Why does there have to be a “new cupcake.” That’s like saying “pink is the new black” which is one of the things I hated about being in fashion.

So the reason why I mentioned them in the above paragraph is because in the latest Bon Appétit, they speak of how the one or the other; the whoopie pie or the macaron, is going to be “the new cupcake.” Uh, yeah *cough*bullshit*cough.* But the whoopie pies with mint filling & chocolate ganache did make my mouth water slightly. I love the chocolate/mint combo. And to be honest, whoopie pies seem so brainlessly easy, I had to make them. Also… one of my favorite Ella Fitzgerald songs is titled “Makin’ Whoopee” (see above), and it’s a perfect reason to play the song & use it as my blog post title. For Valentine’s Day, what better cookie to make!? Especially when you tint the filling pink instead of green.

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WHOOPIE PIES WITH CHOCOLATE GANACHE & MINT FILLING

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ⅛ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup non-hydrogenated solid vegetable shortening or unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk

Mint filling:

• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons non-hydrogenated solid vegetable shortening or unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• ¼ cup egg whites (from about 2 large eggs)
• 3 to 4 drops pink food coloring*

Chocolate Ganache:

• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• ½ cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. 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, 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 until blended after each addition.
2. 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).
3. The mint filling: Using electric mixer, beat shortening, 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 coloring drop by drop for desired shade of pink; beat until well blended. If mixture looks curdled, place bowl over low heat several seconds and beat until smooth. Repeat as necessary until smooth.
4. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (for laying out & assembling the pies).
5. The ganache: Bring cream to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool until lukewarm but spreadable, about 15 minutes.
6. Spoon 1 teaspoon ganache onto bottom (flat side) of half of cookies. Place cookies, ganache side up, on prepared baking sheet.
7. 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 ¼ inch of plastic bag corner to allow for piping). Starting at outer edge of bottom (flat side) of remaining cookies and working toward center, pipe mint filling in spiral. Place 1 mint-filled cookie, mint side down, atop each ganache-topped cookie, pressing slightly to adhere. (DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Store airtight at room temperature).

* In Bon Appétit, they use green, but pink is way more appropriate for this holiday… although depending on when you’re making them, you can use whatever color you want! I only used a smidge of Wilton gel food coloring in Rose Pink. You could also just use a little bit of red to make pink.

They were pretty easy to make, they just required a lot of steps. Also, I’d use dark chocolate unsweetened cocoa next time, this time I used regular & they weren’t as dark as I’d have liked. I used shortening for the pies and a combo of shortening/butter for the filling. I like a more buttery taste in my icings/frostings, however the shortening worked perfectly in the pie itself. If you’re really talented, or you’ve got time to mess around, you could shape them into hearts (I say that because the batter isn’t all that easy to work with). Let me just say that these were so rich, so filling, so insanely chocolate-y & minty… unf. A perfect Valentine’s dessert. I ate one, and had confidence I could eat another. So I took a bite & literally my brain said “Uhm, no. Are you crazy? Have you seen The Biggest Loser?” & my stomach just shut down. That’s how rich they are.

The possibilities for them are endless, too. If you crushed up peppermint candies & put them in with the mint filling, it would be awesome. Or you could flavor the filling strawberry, either by using extract, some strawberry Jell-O or by using strawberry preserves mixed in with the filling. I’d use marshmallow Fluff for a filling too; it’d be great with these! Maybe a marshmallow filling with some crushed graham crackers or something? To make it like a giant s’more? They also have raspberry & strawberry flavored Fluff… just sayin’! I just slathered the filling on with an offset spatula, but piping it all pretty like with a fancy tip like they recommend would be nice. I’ll do that next time.

As a side note, this was a great inspiration to me. I was so happy to see other bloggers making these! It really put a fire up my ass to make them myself. I think I did a pretty good job, eh? For the other complete whoopie pie recipes, please click here: WHOOPIE PIES WITH GERMAN CHOCOLATE FILLING

And one more thing… as a punk rock fan, & a big fan of baked goods & sweets, I thought this was really funny: