Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

These red velvet whoopie pies are made with soft, fluffy, and a little chocolatey cakes, and filled with a sweet cream cheese frosting.

These red velvet whoopie pies are little mounds of cake filled with a traditional cream cheese frosting. If you like, you can dust the edges of the frosting with chopped toasted walnuts, just like traditional red velvet cake.

When I first started playing around with baking, I was briefly obsessed with whoopie pies. I bought a cookbook (affiliate link), a whoopie pie pan (you don't need one), but I never actually made any because my bread obsession took over my baking life.

Then I made these chocolate whoopie pies for Halloween from the aforementioned and long neglected cookbook. The cakes were so good and easy to make, so of course I needed to make whoopie pies in another flavor.

What is a Whoopie Pie?

Traditionally, whoopie pies, also called "gobs," are two mounds of chocolate cake that are filled with a marshmallow and vanilla buttercream frosting. New England claims that whoopie pies originated there. In Maine, it's the Official State Treat.

Pennsylvania also lays claim to creating them. According to the state of Pennsylvania, whoopie pies are an Amish creation, going back generations. According to legend, they were made from leftover batter and placed into children's lunch boxes.

Origins of Red Velvet Cake:

According to Southern Living, Red Velvet cake is not necessarily of Southern origins. In fact, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC is given credit for creating it, although they probably capitalized on a recipe that already existed.

The original red cake resulted from a reaction of natural cocoa powder with acidic ingredients such as vinegar, which turned the cocoa to a slightly red hue.

At some point, the cake's ingredients started to include buttermilk, which is a Southern ingredient, and the resulting cake did have a red-brown hue. The South gets credit for the bright red color of the cake with the introduction of red food coloring. And, of course, there is that red armadillo cake from Steel Magnolias.

This month, the Fantastical Food Fight, hosted by Sarah of Fantastical Sharing of Recipes, is celebrating Red Velvet. This is our final food fight, as Sarah is working on her Master's degree and hanging up her boxing gloves.

While I'm not competitive (yeah, right), I may have won a couple of the food fights. Actually, the best part of this monthly event is getting together with some of my favorite food bloggers and supporting each other.


Be sure to check out everyone's red velvet recipes!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Tips for Making Red Velvet Whoopie Pies:

For the red food coloring, I used Americolor gel food coloring (affiliate link). It's kosher, concentrated, and, because you can use less, it won't affect the consistency of the batter. It's also made in the U.S. (and it's headquartered in California, with all of our extra strict rules). 

I used a number 40 cookie scoop (which is equal to 1 3/4 tablespoons) to portion the batter onto the baking sheets. You can use a large scoop for larger sandwiches and just increase the baking time. Just plop the dough onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake.

For the cocoa, be sure to use natural (not Dutch process) cocoa powder. This is especially important if you decide to skip the food coloring because you will still get a faint red color when the cocoa and buttermilk are combined.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

These whoopie pies are so much easier to make than they look. Just drop the batter on a parchment lined baking sheet with a cookie scoop and bake. You will be thrilled with the results.

I didn't use a piping bag to fill the cake sandwiches with the cream cheese frosting, but if you want a more refined look, go for it.

If you want to make these for Valentine's Day, dip the sides of the frosting in Valentine themed sprinkles!

Keep any leftover whoopie pies in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

Yield: 12 servings

Author: Karen Kerr

These red velvet whoopie pies are made with soft, fluffy, and a little chocolatey cakes, and filled with a sweet cream cheese frosting.

ingredients:

For the Cakes

• 12 1/2 ounces (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup neutral vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup plus two tablespoons buttermilk
• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened and cut into pieces
• 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon red gel food coloring

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

instructions:

How to cook Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

To Make the Cakes

1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. 
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil and buttermilk. 
4. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter and shortening until combined. 
5. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
6. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
7. Add the food coloring and mix on low until combined. 
8. Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. 
9. Chill the batter in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. 
10. Using an ice cream scoop (#40), portion the batter onto the baking sheets about 1 inch apart. 
11. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the cakes are just beginning to show cracks and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
12. Let cool completely. 

To Make the Filling

1. Sift the confectioner's sugar into a medium bowl.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth. Add the cream cheese and continue to beat until smooth. 
3. Add the sugar, vanilla, and salt and continue beat until creamy. 

To Make the Whoopie Pies

1. Drop two tablespoons of filling onto one cake. Place another cake over the frosting and gently press until the filling spreads to the edges. 

Calories
435.13

Fat (grams)
28.29

Sat. Fat (grams)
14.49

Carbs (grams)
40.60

Fiber (grams)
1.05

Net carbs
39.55

Sugar (grams)
16.85

Protein (grams)
5.24

Sodium (milligrams)
377.68

Cholesterol (grams)
75.96

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2020/02/red-velvet-whoopie-pies.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

red velvet, whoopie pies

Dessert

American

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This recipe was adapted from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented.