Every Sunday after church my parents would take us to the local bakery for doughnuts. I loved this tradition. I found church to be so boring (I’m sorry Jesus), but knowing I’d have a warm, fresh, glazed doughnut in my hands was worth every long sermon. On this one bitterly cold, December Sunday the bakery was packed. A line of irritable costumers snaked around the cramped space, and out through the door. We didn’t seem to be moving very fast, and that made the adults in the room grouchy. Suddenly the man behind the cash register (he was the owner of the shop) started yelling, “Hey! Hey! Stop him!”. I didn’t witness it, but apparently a customer grabbed his baked goods and fled without paying. It all happened so fast, and nobody was able to help out. When it became apparent that this fella got away with the crime the mood in the bakery went from mild irritation to down-right abysmal. People were grumbling. The owner was very unhappy. And the line went from moving at a snail’s pace to a complete stop. Out of no where a very tall customer with a very deep voice began to sing Jingle Bells. We all just stared at him, and marveled at his complete inhibition. Before I knew it we were singing along with him– the whole shop. When we finished the song we burst into applause. After that, another customer paid the owner for the stolen baked goods along with what he was buying. That got applause too. It was a magical moment. One I will never forget. Let’s make some peppermint whoopie pies.
I adapted this recipe from the fantastic baking website Brown Eyed Baker. The cake has a deep chocolate flavor that goes beautifully with the not-too-minty peppermint buttercream. I used my Most Favorite Vanilla Buttercream recipe and just substituted a teaspoon of peppermint extract in place of the vanilla. Here we go…
Use the simple creaming method to make the cake (fat and sugar are beaten until fluffy, add the eggs, and vanilla, and finally the dry ingredients). Butter is not the only fat used in this recipe. Vegetable shortening is also creamed with the butter and sugar. This gives the cake a more tender texture. Pipe out (or spoon) silver dollar-sized dollops.
Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree F. oven. Be sure to rotate the baking sheet halfway through.
While the little cakes are baking put some candy canes and a food processor…
… and pulverize them to bits!
I have no photos of making this filling (I’m sorry), but for tips on great buttercream go here. Fill a piping bag with your peppermint buttercream, and pipe about a tablespoons-worth onto the flat side of one of the chocolate cakes. Then sandwich the buttercream by adding another chocolate cake. Boom! You’ve got yourself a darling, little whoopie pie. Now, pour yourself a glass of pinot noir, and repeat.
Roll the sides of each whoopie pie into a bowl of the crushed candy canes, place them on a plate, and eat them in the light of your Christmas tree. Enjoy!
- 1 and 2/3 cup (208 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup (59 g) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 and ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 4 TBS Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
- 4 TBS Vegetable Shortening, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 Large Egg, at room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Whole Milk, at room temperature
- 3 sticks (339 g) Salted Butter, at room temperature
- ¼ cup Heavy Cream, at room temperature
- 1 tsp Peppermint Extract
- 3 to 4 cups (375 g to 500 g) Powdered Sugar, sifted
- 4 large Candy Canes, pulverized in food processor
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a bowl connected to a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, shortening, and brown sugar until lighter in color, and fluffy (about 5 minutes on medium speed). Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix in the egg on low speed. Then add in the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl once more.
- On low speed, add a little of the flour mixture, and then a little of the milk to the butter mixture. Alternate between the two until just combined. Be sure to begin and end with the flour mixture.
- Spoon the cake batter into a piping bag (you could also use a small cookie scoop), and pipe out silver dollar-sizes of batter onto the parchment. Be sure to space them out to about 3 inches.
- Bake for 10 minutes rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Cool on a wire rack.
- In a bowl connected to a standing mixer, and fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter on medium until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the cream, and peppermint extract, and mix on low at first, and then move to medium and mix for no more than 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Bring the mixer down to low speed, and slowly add ½ cup of the powdered sugar at a time, mixing for only 30 seconds each time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after every 1 cup of sugar added. Keep adding the powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.
- *If the buttercream seems too soft then add a little more sifted powdered sugar, and if the buttercream appears too stiff then add a little more heavy cream.
- Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip, and pipe a tablespoon’s worth of filling onto the flat size of a whoopie pie cake (you could also just smooth the filling on using a knife or off set spatula). Place another cake on top of filling to make a sandwich. Roll the sides of the whoopie pie in the crushed candy cane crumbs. Repeat.
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Standing mixer with paddle attachment
- Piping bags
- Large star tip
- Food processor
