Vanilla Cinnamon Whoopie Pies With Caramel Buttercream Recipes

SALTED-CARAMEL WHOOPIE PIES

Steps:

• Cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, kosher salt, cinnamon, and allspice. In another bowl, combine milk and vanilla.
• In a large bowl, beat butter with granulated and brown sugar on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg; beat until pale, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour mixture in two batches, alternating with milk mixture. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until just combined, about 10 seconds. Transfer mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a 5/8-inch round tip (such as Ateco #808).
• Pipe 2 1/2-inch-diameter mounds onto 3 parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 3 inches apart (no more than 8 per sheet). Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies spring back when lightly pressed, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks; let cool completely.
• Caramel: In a small high-sided saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, salt, and 2 tablespoons water, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook, without stirring, and washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming, until caramel is a deep amber, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Carefully whisk in cream (it will spatter), then butter, until combined. Let cool completely, about 45 minutes.
• Buttercream: Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium; add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating after each addition, until combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
• Beat caramel into buttercream on medium speed, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, until smooth, about 3 minutes. Makes 2 cups.
• Put buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with the 5/8-inch round tip. Pipe 2 tablespoons onto flat sides of half of cookies, then sandwich with remaining cookies. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• In a small bowl, stir together rock salt and sanding sugar. Roll edges of sandwiches in sugar-salt mixture. (Whoopie pies can be refrigerated in airtight containers up to 3 days.)

VANILLA WHOOPIE PIES FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with two racks, in the upper middle and lower middle positions. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, or about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla and scrape down the side of the bowl.
• Combine the flour, salt, and baking bowl in a large bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture 1/2 cup at a time, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour.
• Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop batter onto baking sheets spaced 2 inches apart in all directions. There should now be 12 cakes. (For smaller cakes, make them 2 tablespoons each. You will need another baking sheet.)
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, switching the baking sheets halfway through. (Reduce to 10-13 minutes for smaller cakes.). When fully baked, a cake tester will come out clean but the cakes will still be soft. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
• Beat the powdered sugar and butter together until light and fluffy using a stand mixer on medium speed. Add the salt and vanilla. Add the marshmallow cream and beat until fully combined. Add the vanilla bean paste and stir in.
• Spread 1/3 cup of filling onto the flat side of half of the cakes. The filling should stay on but still be spreadable. It if it's sliding off, place in the refrigerator to firm up or add a bit more powdered sugar. If it's too soft to spread, add a touch of milk.
• Place the remaining cakes on top to make a sandwich. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

VANILLA WHOOPIE PIES WITH CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and lightly coat with cooking spray.
• Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat together the granulated sugar, butter and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 batches, beating after each addition until just combined.
• Scoop 2-tablespoon mounds of batter onto the baking sheets about 2-inches apart. Moisten your fingers and gently form each mound into a round and slightly smooth the top. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Bake the cookies, rotating the trays halfway through, until the tops bounce back when gently touched, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Put the confectioners' sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed until just incorporated, about 1 minute. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until smooth and fully incorporated. Turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the dissolved cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Turn the mixer back on to medium speed and beat until everything is well mixed, 1 to 2 minutes. With the mixer off, add the milk. Mix together on low speed until just incorporated.
• To assemble the whoopie pies: Flip half of the cookies over and spread the bottoms with the filling. Top each with another cookie--bottom facing in--to make a sandwich.
• Put the sprinkles on a plate and roll the edge of each whoopie pie in the sprinkles to coat.
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CHOCOLATE WHOOPIE PIES WITH VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FILLING

Steps:

• Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Slowly add dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
• Using a 1-ounce ice cream scoop, place dough onto a parchment-lined baking pan, 12 per pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining batter.
• Make the vanilla buttercream: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add 3 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining cup sugar to reach desired consistency.
• Transfer buttercream to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe 2 tablespoons buttercream onto the flat side of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies.

VANILLA WHOOPIE PIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180 fan C/gas 4 and line two trays with baking parchment.
• Cream the butter and sugar using an electric whisk until smooth and creamy.
• Add the eggs and beat well.
• Mix the vanilla extract into the buttermilk. Add this mixture to the butter mixture and beat well until combined.
• Mix together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add half of this to the butter mixture and beat well.
• Mix together the milk, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda and add this to the butter mixture. Beat to combine.
• Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat well to combine.
• Drop teaspoon sized blobs of the dough onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each blob.
• Bake the cakes for 8-10 minutes until they are just beginning to brown.