Red Velvet Whoopie Pies: BAKED Sunday Mornings

One of the benefits of living in our little Northern Virginia town is it's outlet mall. It is less than a mile away and since we live in town we can avoid the normal weekend and holiday crowds and go whenever. Tuesday night is the slowest which makes it the best for us locals. It seems I cannot leave the Williams-Sonoma outlet without a cookbook. Certainly there are times I leave there empty handed but they are far fewer than the times I leave with that white paper bag. One our last few visits there I'd been eying Baked Explorations. On the last trip, Zach said he would get it for me - Yay! I spent a night reading/skimming it and decided that I needed to start making some recipes ASAP. Then I found this group -- BAKED Sunday Mornings and it was perfect timing!

So this was my first recipe from the book, and with the group and it was fabulous. I've never really understood the appeal of Red Velvet, but I suppose that probably means I hadn't yet had a really good red velvet recipe. In the book Matt Lews explains that true Red Velvet needs to have these three ingredients: buttermilk, cocoa powder and shortening. I can't say I disagree. The whoopie pies had a great texture, kind of crunchy on the outside, but tender and fluffy on the inside.

It was the first time I've made whoopie pies and I will definitely be making them again. I think they are even easier than cupcakes since the frosting step is so much easier -- put a dollop on and squeeze! They are less messy to eat than cupcakes, since the frosting is all contained between layers of cake-y cookie. They were simple and fun, not to mention delicious. The recipe was timed perfectly for Valentine's Day and we both plan to take a few into work with us on Monday. The recipe can be found here, on the BAKED Sunday Mornings blog.