Description
These Red Velvet Whoopie Pies are a delightful treat featuring soft, heart-shaped red velvet cookies sandwiched with a creamy, smooth cream cheese frosting. Perfectly moist and rich with a hint of cocoa and buttermilk tang, these whimsical whoopie pies are ideal for celebrations or a charming dessert anytime.
Ingredients
Scale
Dry Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter, softened
- â…” cup white sugar
- â…” cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons red gel food coloring (adjust for desired redness)
Filling
- Cream cheese frosting made from cream cheese, softened butter, and powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Baking Sheets: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and stencil heart shapes all over the paper, spacing about one inch apart. Flip the parchment paper so the pencil marks don’t contact the batter.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until fully combined.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In a large bowl, beat the softened butter using a mixer on high speed until creamy. Gradually add white and brown sugars and beat on medium-high for about 3 minutes until fluffy. Then beat in the eggs until the mixture is smooth.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Incorporate the buttermilk into the mixture, mixing only as needed.
- Combine Dry and Wet Mixtures: Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix on low speed just until combined. Then stir in the vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring until the batter is uniform in color without overmixing. The batter should be similar in texture to cake batter and pipe easily.
- Pipe Batter: Transfer batter into a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1A round tip or a large zip-lock bag with the corner cut. Pipe heart shapes onto the parchment paper about two inches apart. Pipe an outline first, then fill in, smoothing with a spatula if needed.
- Bake Cookies: Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are set. Let cool slightly on the baking sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
- Prepare Cream Cheese Filling: Beat softened cream cheese and butter together on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 2 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating 1-2 minutes after each addition until creamy.
- Assemble Whoopie Pies: Once cookies are fully cooled, pair similar-sized hearts. Pipe or spread about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese filling on one cookie side and sandwich with its matching cookie gently to avoid squeezing out the filling.
- Storage: Store the assembled whoopie pies in the refrigerator to keep the cream cheese filling fresh and safe.
Notes
- Use gel food coloring rather than liquid to avoid altering batter consistency.
- Do not overmix batter to maintain the tender texture.
- Ensure cookies are completely cooled before assembling to prevent melting filling.
- Keep the finished whoopie pies refrigerated due to cream cheese frosting.
- Heart stencil and piping technique ensure uniform, attractive shapes.
