Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Filling

Sorry, no picture today - I forgot until it was too late. But the cookies turned out to be delicious, and the red color was very pretty.

1/2 c butter, soft
1 c packed brown sugar
2 Tbls unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour (I added an extra 1/4 cup after the 1st batch came out of the oven)
1 1-ounce bottle red food coloring, or 2 Tbls

Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Alternately add flour and buttermilk in several increments, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Stir in red food coloring.

Spoon dough from a rounded measuring teaspoon 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake 7-9 minutes or until edges are set. Cool on sheet 2 mins, then move to wire rack.

When they are cool, spread Peppermint Filling on flat sides of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down, pressing lightly together.

Peppermint Filling -
In large bowl, combine two 3-ounce packages of cream cheese**, softened; 3 Tbls butter, softened; and 1/2 tsp peppermint extract. Beat with mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in 3 cups powdered sugar. Add milk, 1 tsp at a time, to make a filling of spreading consistency. We also crushed up some peppermint candies and added it to the filling (the recipe says to put them on top, but we liked it inside).

**I think this is too much cream cheese - our filling turned out pretty good, but you could definitely tell there was cream cheese in it. I think next time I would use 1 1/2 packages of cream cheese.

To store, layer the cookies between sheets of waxes paper in airtight container. Store in fridge up to 3 days. Let stand at room temp 15 minutes before serving.