Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies adapted from King Arthur Flour recipe

CAKES

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa

2-1/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup milk

FILLING

½ cup powdered sugar

1 7-oz container Solo Toasted Marshmallow Creme

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Lightly grease (or line with parchment or Silpats) two baking sheets.

To make the cakes: In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, espresso powder,

baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla till smooth.

Add the egg, again beating till smooth.

Add the cocoa, stirring to combine.

Add the flour to the batter alternately with the milk, beating till smooth.

Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat again briefly

to soften and combine any chunky scrapings.

Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets,

leaving plenty of room between the cakes;

they’ll spread. A tiny scoop works well here.

Bake the cakes for 8 to 10 minutes, till they’re set and firm to the touch.

Remove them from the oven, and let cool a few minutes on the pans

then allow to cool completely on wire racks.

To make the filling: Beat together marshmallow and powdered sugar.

(this is messy and it doesn’t mix in completely)

Spread the flat side of half the cakes with the filling.

Top with the remaining cakes, flat side towards the filling.

Wrap individually, in waxed paper and store in airtight container.

The filling will dissolve within a few days so these do not keep long,

but no matter – they don’t last long either!

Man, it’s hard to do my usual bake-a-thon for the holidays now that I work in a Flower Shop.  Christmas is one of our big holidays and we’re all putting in a lot of hours in getting those flowers and centerpieces and gifts out for you. There’s lots of extra help though, and the busy busy busyness of it all is intoxicating.

I did over last weekend manage to make up a couple batches of cookie dough which I rolled into logs, wrapped in wax paper and stored in the fridge in paper towel cardboards (you save those, right?) so they stay in a log shape and don’t flatten on one side.

My one cookie gift this year

I have only packaged one gift of cookies for my friends Mary and Bill, but I’ll be taking lots of cookies to work on Sunday when everyone will be working. After all, what’s a Walter Knoll Floral Holiday without Di’s cookies and spicy cheese wafies?

I’m going to share this amazing chocolate cookie recipe with you, not sure where I picked it up, somewhere on the internet, but these are the best chocolate cookies you’ll ever eat!

Dark Dark Dark Dark Chocolate Cookies
Makes about 100.

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, 2 cups sugar, and eggs on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix to combine. Gradually add dry ingredients, and combine with mixer on low speed. Roll dough into 1 to 1-1/2 inch logs, wrap in waxed paper, stuff into a paper towel cardboard and chill until dough is firm, about 1 hour or as long as a week.
When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats. Cut logs into quarter inch slices. Place on prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.

They spread, so leave some room!

Bake until they just quit being shiny, about 8 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Voila!

My cool neighbor Joe tests all my cookies out and these dark dark dark chocolates got a big thumbs up out of him!

Joe Cool