Cardamom shortbread

My first shortbread experiment was, well…a tasty experience. It was an experience that I would love to redo someday. Cardamom is a spice that I never thought of using before this recipe, but it has inspired me to be more creative with foreign spices. A bite of cardamom shortbread tastes like a bite from India, Nepal, or even Bhutan.

How about that! Instead of always resorting to the spices and tastes that I already know, I am going to try to use spices from around the world and see how they pair with some baked goods. So keep on reading and you may possibly find out how to travel in the midst of your own kitchen!

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Its been over a year since I made whoopie pies. The last time I made whoopie pies it was a bit more of a fiasco. It was the week before my wedding and I was trying to make over 600 whoopie pies for the Whoopie Pie Bar Reception Dessert! This time it was much more low key and I was making them for a small family gathering at Christmas. Regardless of whether you are making these peppermint whoopies for your own wedding or for some friends and family, they are guaranteed to be a hit and you will constantly have people reminding you to make some more! 

Makes 24 mini whoopie pies

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Ingredients:

Chocolate Whoopie cakes:

3 ½ cups          All purpose flour
¼ tsp                 Salt
1 ¼ tsp             Baking powder
1 ¼ tsp             Baking soda
¾ cup               Dark cocoa powder
1 cup                 Hot coffee
¾ cup               Butter, unsalted
2 cups              Firmly packed brown sugar
1                         Large egg
1 tsp                  Pure vanilla extract
1 cup                Vanilla yogurt

Filling :

¼ cup              Butter, softened and unsalted
8 oz                  Cream Cheese, softened
2 ½ cups        Powdered sugar
1 tsp               Peppermint extract (or more to taste)
5                      Candy canes (preferably peppermint)

Method:

Chocolate Cookies and Filling:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 muffin pans (or cookies sheets if you don’t have muffin pans) with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and set aside.
  • In another large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and the hot coffee. Whisk until the cocoa is dissolved into the coffee.
  • In a medium bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar. Add this to the cocoa mixture and whisk until combined. Add the egg, vanilla, and yogurt and beat until smooth.
  • Use a rubber spatula and fold in the dry ingredients slowly to the wet ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl while doing this.
  • Using a muffin pan (or cookies sheet if necessary) and a tablespoon measure, place dough in prepared muffin pans. For the cookies sheets, place the dough about 1 inch apart. Bake for 11-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. The tops of the cookies should begin to crack. Let the cookies cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
  • While the cookies are cooling, beat together the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and the peppermint extract until the a the filling has the consistency of whipped cream.
  • To razzle dazzle these whoopie pies, crush 5 candy canes of your choice in a mini food processor. If you don’t have one of these than put the candy canes in a thick plastic bag and hit them with a meat tenderizer. Have fun! When you are finished put the crushed candy canes in a bowl and set aside.IMG_9219
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Assembling:

  • Place a tablespoon amount of icing on the bottom side of the chocolate cookie. Place another cookie flat side down so that the filling spreads to the edges of the cookie. Repeat until you are finished with the cookies.
  • Roll the prepared whoopie in the crushed candy canes and place the Whoopies in the fridge and serve when ready! Enjoy!

Peppermint whoopie pie

Galette

In lieu of my New Years resolution announcement, I have concocted another healthy recipe that you will definitely enjoy: a butternut squash galette. For those of you that don’t know what a galette is (don’t be ashamed, I didn’t know what a galette was until a few weeks ago either!), it is somewhat similar to a pie however you don’t need a pie pan for it. All you needis a puff pastry recipe that you love and a baking sheet to put it on when you are done. For this galette, you fill the puff pastry dough with a deliciously spiced butternut squash/caramelized onions/fontina cheese mixture, fold the edges of the puff pastry over, and throw it in the oven. This galette is great to make when you need an appetizer to impress some friends at your house, or theirs! I did this with my wife a few times over the holidays and it was a hit!

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