Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies
In my many years of reading cookbooks/food blogs, I've come across recipes for not only cheesecakes, brownies, and cookies, but also desserts that, if we're judging by name alone, definitely take the cake (see what I did there?!) Ever heard of crumbles, buckles, cobblers, trifles, clafoutis, or fools?! What about Apple Brown Betty or Eton Mess? Dig a little deeper into the dessert world and you'll see that there are tons of sweets with silly names, which in my opinion make them all the more appealing (it's way more fun to say you're bringing a Raspberry Fool to a dinner party instead of, say, a chocolate cake). The stranger the name, the better, no?
These Whoopie Pies of course, fall into this category (how could you not want be at least a little curious about something called a Whoopie Pie??) and are as delicious as their name is amusing. If you're not sure what a Whoopie Pie is, no worries -- the classic Whoopie Pie consists of two cake-y chocolate cookies that sandwich a vanilla cream filling, and fun fact, Wikipedia tells me that it is actually a dessert that originated in Pennsylvania. This recipe shakes up tradition, using carrot cake for the cookie part and cream cheese frosting for the filling. The result is two soft, fluffy, and spicy cookie which are balanced perfectly by creamy, not overly sweet frosting -- in short, all the taste of carrot cake in a compact, portable form (perfect for your next Spring picnic!) While I was already quite happy with how these came out, their deliciousness was confirmed when a colleague -- whom I had only ever exchanged a few "hellos" with -- sent me an email, saying she had heard that there were some really good carrot cake cookies in the office, and would I mind terribly if she stopped by to try one? Another colleague ended up eating three. And the whole batch was gone within half an hour. Need any more convincing?!
A couple of notes: I upped the spices here as usual, but if you want your Whoopie Pies to have less spice, feel free to use 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon ginger. If you're not a fan of cream cheese frosting, 1.) what's wrong with you?! and 2.) you could I imagine substitute a simple vanilla buttercream here. Regarding the little grated carrot asterisk* below -- my intense carrot cake whoopie pie research shows that most people recommended grating the carrots with a hand held grater, as the carrots come out much finer, preferable for such a delicate cookie. I was impatient and chopped the carrots fine with my mini food processor and was happy with the result. Finally, I used baby carrots here, but feel free to use regular carrots if that's easier -- just be sure not to use pre-shredded carrots as those tend to be dry. Enjoy!
Looking for other carrot cake recipes? I’ve got this one right here. Looking for other cake recipes? Click here.
CARROT CAKE WHOOPIE PIES
Recipe adapted very slightly from www.thebakerchick.com. Makes 16-20 Whoopie pies.
Ingredients for cookies:
2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons (7 grams) baking soda
1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1/2 cup or 112 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups (165 grams) shredded carrots*
Ingredients for frosting:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
6 ounces (170 grams) cream cheese softened
2 cups (120 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly butter two large baking sheets. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, powder, spices and salt in a medium sized bowl. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy with electric beaters. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients and beat just until combined. Fold in the carrots.
Using a small cookie scoop or tablespoons, portion out rounds of batter onto one of the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake each batch for about 12 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly golden around the edges. Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until everything is well combined. Match the cookies up into pairs based on size and fill with the cream cheese frosting. Enjoy.
