Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies

It may be hard to believe, but these adorable mini whoopie pies are made with only 6 ingredients.  I know, right?  

To make the cookies, combine one box of dry devils food cake mix and one can of 100% pure pumpkin puree.  No egg, no water, no oil, just the dry mix and pumpkin.  That's all.  I mix them in my stand mixer using a BeaterBlade or flat beater attachment. 

Then I use a #50 scoop to portion 1 tablespoon mounds of dough onto silpat lined half sheet pans.  This recipe will make 4 pans of cookies.  If you don't have 4 pans with liners, you can rotate 2 pans - just be sure the pans are completely cool before putting cookie dough on them.  

While the cookies are baking, make the cream filling. 

Cream together room temperature butter and confectioners sugar.  Make sure the butter is at room temperature.  This is one of the few recipes that I use salted butter.  You can use unsalted if you like, just add a healthy pinch or two of fine salt for flavor. 

Whip the butter and sugar together for a full 3 minutes.  I like to use my BeaterBlade attachment so I don't have to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  LOVE my BeaterBlade!!  

Add the marshmallow cream.  It's so sticky!

And lastly, add pure vanilla extract. Use the good stuff - it makes all the difference. 

Mix again, just until the marshmallow cream and vanilla are fully incorporated.

Place the cream filling in a large pastry bag fitted with a round tip.  I like to use plastic and polycarbonate tips for several reasons:

1. They don't have seams, which can leave marks in your piped design.

2. They don't get cold like metal tips. cold metal can make some fillings seize and clog the tip (like anything containing temperature sensitive ingredients like chocolate or butter).

3. You can spot large air bubbles before they have a chance to explode all over the place.

Ok, back to our mini whoopie pies.  Squeeze a good dollop of filling on the flat side of one cookie and top with another cookies, sandwiching the two flat sides together as shown below.

And that's all there is to it.  Store these bite-size treats in an airtight container.  Serve chilled.

Items used to make this recipe:

• pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3r9wNGK

• marshmallow cream https://amzn.to/3rmcFBu

• #50 scoop https://amzn.to/32OW1Rg

• beaterblade https://amzn.to/348gOzS

• half sheet pans https://amzn.to/3L6vNv8

• silpat liner https://amzn.to/3rjZzo3

• 100% pure pumpkin puree https://amzn.to/3IVYxob

• devils food cake mix https://amzn.to/3ugjfew

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Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies

makes approximately 30 mini whoopie pies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Whoopie Pies

• 18.5 ounce box devils food cake mix

• 15 ounces 100% pure pumpkin puree

Filling

• 16 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature

• 2 cups confectioners sugar

• 7.5 ounces marshmallow cream

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

To make cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line 2 half sheet pans with silpats.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade (or paddle attachment), combine cake mix and pumpkin until no signs of dry cake mix remain.

3. Use a #50 scoop (about 1 tablespoon) to portion 15 cookies onto each prepared sheet pan.

4. Bake one pan at a time, in the center of the oven, for 15 minutes; repeat until all cookie dough is baked (be sure sheet trays are completely cool before placing cookie dough on them).

5. Allow cookies to cool completely on sheet pan before filling.

To make filling and assemble whoopie pies:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade (or paddle attachment), cream butter and sugar together for 3 minutes.

2. Add marshmallow cream and vanilla; mix until combined.

3. Place filling in a disposable pastry bag fitted with a large round tip.

4. Pipe filling onto flat side of one cooled cookie and top with a second cookie to form a mini whoopie pie; continue until all the cookies are filled.

5. Chill whoopie pies in an airtight container; serve cold.

Notes

• Leftover cream filling can be frozen in an airtight container.  

• Thaw overnight in the fridge and re-whip to restore consistency if needed.

Thanksgiving Turkey Cake Pops

How cute would these turkey cake pops be on your holiday table?  I posted a lot of photos so I could show you every step, but don't be alarmed - these cake pops are really pretty easy to make.  Set up an assembly line and before you know it you'll have a rafter of cute little turkeys.

Did you know a flock of turkeys was called a rafter?

Start by baking a single layer cake in a 9x13-inch professional cake pan.   Sometimes I make vanilla and other times I make chocolate.  You can never go wrong with vanilla, but chocolate is best used for cake pops that will be coated in dark colors (for example, you wouldn't want to cover a chocolate cake ball with white candy melts because the chocolate would be visible through the candy coating).  

I've included recipes for both vanilla and chocolate cake at the end of this post if you'd like to bake from scratch, but you can certainly use boxed cake mixes if you like.  Just follow the instructions on the box. 

The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean (a few crumbs is okay).  Cool the cake for 10 minutes before turning out of the pan to finish cooling completely. 

In addition to cake, you'll need a binding agent of some sort.  I like to use real buttercream, cream cheese, or chocolate ganache (for chocolate cake) because they firm up when chilled, which helps a lot when dipping the cake balls.

I also like to use my BeaterBlade attachment when mixing the cake pop dough.  It mixes the dough better than anything.  

Here's what vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream look like after mixing for a minute or so.  If you don't have a BeaterBlade attachment, use a paddle attachment and be sure to mix until the dough looks smooth and feels like PlayDoh.

To ensure all my cake pops are the same size, I use a #50 scoop to portion the dough.  This size will give you about 45 cake pops from one 9x13 cake (or one box of cake mix).  They'll end up being about 1 1/2-inch in diameter.

Roll the portions of cake dough into balls or other shapes.

For chocolate cake pop dough, I prefer the flavor of chocolate ganache or chocolate buttercream, but I only had cream cheese on this day so that's what I used.  

Hmmm.  I wonder what kind of cake pops those cone shapes are going to be....

I'll save that design for another day.  Let's get back to our Thanksgiving Turkeys.

Time to turn cake balls into cake pops.  We're going to insert 6-inch lollipop sticks into the cake balls, using a little melted candy coating (candy melts) as glue.  Dip the lollipop stick about 1/2-inch into the melted candy, ten push into a cake ball.     

Push the sticks in about 1/2 inch.  Do it carefully and you'll notice a little chocolate plug being formed.  Note - if you push the stick in too far, the cake pop will break so go slow until you get the hang of it.

To retain their shape, place the cake pop sticks upright in a heavy-bottomed glass, styrofoam, or a cake pop stand/holder.  Chill for at least 10 minutes or up to a couple of hours.  If you want to make them even further in advance, be sure to cover them will to prevent them from drying out.

Alright then, now that the cake pops have chilled, we're ready to start decorating!!!  

To make turkeys, I'm going to start with chocolate-filled sandwich cookies.  If you can't find them, regular sandwich cookies will work - more on that later. 

Scrape the filling out of the cookies, divide in half, roll into two balls, and chill for a few minutes until firm.  If you can't find chocolate sandwich cookies, substitute brown fondant or some other chocolate candy that can be squished into a flat round disk (you'll see that later).

Time to melt some candy melts - I've used many brands and they all seem to be basically the same. 

By the way, I LOVE these containers - I can melt, dip, and store leftovers all in one.  

For our turkeys, we need chocolate candy melts (don't be tempted to use pure chocolate unless you plan to temper it - a time consuming process that most of us don't care to mess around with).  

Some candy melt brands melt smoother than others.  Alternate heating the candy melts for 15-30 seconds and stirring until completely melted.  Some brands melt smoother than others, but the final consistency should be smooth enough to fall off a spoon in a continuous ribbon rather than falling off the spoon in dollops.  If your candy melts fall off in dollops, add vegetable shortening (heat to melt and stir in well).  Start with about 1/2-teaspoon per 4 ounces of candy melts.

Place a dollop of chocolate on each cookie half. 

Then add candy corn pieces.

Now we'll squish those chocolate cookie filling balls into round disks to make the turkey faces.  Again, if you can't find chocolate filled cookies, use fondant or other candy that you can roll and flatten into a disk.  Or use an unmelted candy melt in tan, off white, or light brown.

For the face we need some little candies.  I like to use mini m&m for the eyes and chocolate covered sunflower seeds for the beak and wattle. 

Using a toothpick, I place a small dot of chocolate candy melts to glue the candies in place.

Use a food-safe marker to draw dots on the mini M&M eyes.  Chill until needed. 

Remove chilled cake pop from fridge and dip to coat.  Place on wax paper and allow chocolate coating to set.  Then use a little melted chocolate coating to glue the tail and face in place. 

That's all there is to it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• heavy duty stand mixer https://amzn.to/3gbGa2s

• #50 portion scoop https://amzn.to/34fp8h3

• pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3r9wNGK

• beaterblade mixer attachment https://amzn.to/34kqreO

• professional quality cake pan https://amzn.to/3oaZf94

• baker's joy baking spray https://amzn.to/3u9GkiP

• cake pop sticks https://amzn.to/3AGV6is

• cake pop holder/stand https://amzn.to/3gbGQVy

• edible markers https://amzn.to/3IGGFh8

• candy melts https://amzn.to/3DYnfVA

• storage bowls for melted candy https://amzn.to/3rdHZlH

• candy corn https://amzn.to/35CVZgv

• chocolate covered sunflower seeds https://amzn.to/3uctDUp

• oreo cookies https://amzn.to/342spAA

• mini m&m's https://amzn.to/35CmdQg

• dutch processed cocoa https://amzn.to/3ucYv7j

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White Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 1/2 cup shortening

• 1 1/4 cups whole milk

• 4 eggs whites

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Prepare a high quality, light colored metal 9x13-inch cake pan with oil/flour baking spray.

3. Using a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade attachment (or hand mixer), combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, shortening, and salt until the shortening is completely incorporated.

4. Add the milk, egg whites, and pure vanilla extract; mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

6. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out of pan to cool completely on a wire rack.

To Make White Cake Pop Dough:  Crumble cooled white cake and place in bowl of stand mixer with about 1/2 cup vanilla buttercream (or 8 ounces room temperature cream cheese); combine until smooth and paste-like using flat paddle or BeaterBlade attachment.  Roll dough into balls or other shapes.  If the dough balls crack or seem a little dry, add a little more buttercream.     

Chocolate Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

• 1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon fine salt

• 1/2 cup shortening

• 1 1/3 cup water

• 1/2 cup canola oil

• 3 large eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Prepare a high quality, light colored metal 9x13-inch cake pan with oil/flour baking spray.

3. Using a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade attachment (or hand mixer), combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and shortening until the shortening is completely incorporated.

4. Add the water, oil, and eggs; mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

6. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out of pan to cool completely on a wire rack.

To Make Chocolate Cake Pop Dough:  Crumble cooled chocolate cake and place in bowl of stand mixer with about 1/2 cup chocolate frosting or vanilla buttercream (or 8 ounces room temperature cream cheese); combine until smooth and PlayDoh-like using flat paddle or BeaterBlade attachment.   Roll dough into balls or other shapes.  If the dough balls crack or seem a little dry, add a little more frosting or buttercream.