Every year Trader Joe’s gets their holiday products in stock. They fly off the shelves and quickly as they arrived. Peppermint is king around the holidays and we love everything from the candy cane tea to the candy cane ‘joe-joes’ (Trader Joe’s version of an oreo.)
We decided to make our own version of the candy cane joe-joe in the form of a whoopie pie.
Whoopie pies are basically cakey little cookies with frosting to hold them together. Like a soft oreo! Whoopie pies have been around since the 1920’s and now we can find them in every variation under the sun.
Let’s start with the cookie!
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups flour
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 4 Tablespoons vegetable shortening
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Whisk together your dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the butter, vegetable shortening and the sugars until thoroughly combined. Mix in the egg and the vanilla until fluffy. Add in half the dry ingredients and half the milk until combined. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients and the remaining milk.
On parchment lined cookie sheets, scoop approximately 1 Tablespoon sized drops a few inches apart. Bake them in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes. Let them thoroughly cool.
Now it’s time to make the frosting! Really any frosting recipe will do, but this one is a classic buttercream with a peppermint twist.
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 4 Tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Use a mixer to beat together the powdered sugar and butter (start at a low speed and slowly increase) until it’s thoroughly combined. Slowly add the milk, vanilla and peppermint. You may need to add more milk or more powdered sugar to achieve the correct consistency.
Assembly each whoopie pie by adding a scoop of frosting between 2 cookies. You can squish them a little so the frosting peeks out the sides.
As an added touch, roll the cookies in crushed candy canes. Enjoy!
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Kristin