Monday, March 11, 2013

Boozy Irish Whoopie Pies

The best way to spend a cold, snowy day (in my opinion) is baking in your kitchen...with booze, of course. And last week, when it was snowing like crazy outside, that's exactly what I did.


We had an early St. Patrick's Day party to go to Saturday night, so on Friday, I decided to whip up these boozy little treats. I was initially inspired by this recipe, but, since we didn't have any Bailey's on hand, I improvised. I also added green food coloring to the cream for extra St. Patrick's Day flair (the food coloring was Z's idea).


Boozy Irish Whoopie Pies
Yields: 10 servings
Adapted from Burn Me Not
Cookies: 
-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
-1/2 cup granulated sugar
-1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
-1 large egg
-1 cup Guinness (or stout)
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Filling:
-12 tablespoons (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
-1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
-3-4 drops of green food coloring
-4 tablespoons whiskey (I used Jack Daniel's)

Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease baking sheet (or line with parchment paper); set aside.
2.) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3.) In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine butter and both sugars. Using the paddle attachment, mix on medium/high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg and mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Adjust speed to low and gradually mix in half the flour mixture, then the Guinness and vanilla, and finish with the remaining flour mixture.
4.) Drop tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet (I used an ice cream scoop), spacing 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes or until cookies spring back when lightly touched. Place baking sheet on wire rack and let cool 5-10 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheet and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
5.) For the filling, combine butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add food coloring and whiskey and beat until combined. (Feel free to add a bit more confectioners' sugar to thicken filling, if needed). Transfer buttercream to a prepared pastry bag fitted with a large tip.
6.) To assemble, pipe filling on the flat sides of half the cookies then sandwich with remaining cookies.

[Print this recipe]


These whoopie pies tasted like grown-up Devil Dogs. The sweet, whipped filling had just the right kick of whiskey - and paired with the rich chocolate cookies? Pure alcoholic bliss.

As a major bonus, these whoopies pies didn't take that long to make or assemble, either. I feared that it would take me all afternoon to make them, but they really didn't take that much time from start to finish. That's my kind of recipe!

Are you making any St. Patrick's Day recipes this year? If yes, what are you making? I plan on attempting Irish Soda Bread this week!


15 comments:

  1. These look wonderful, that Guinness cake! Have been making some car bomb cupcakes for the last few years...so delicious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm pretty sure I remember this recipe (assuming you posted it on your blog?). Sounds very familiar, and I remember thinking they sounded AWESOME.

      Delete
  2. Love Devil Dogs and that these whoopie pies taste just like them :) The green food coloring looks like a perfect final touch. These must have been a huge hit!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yum these sound great, I love boozy desserts!

    ReplyDelete
  4. perfect for the upcoming holiday :) i just made a pot pie with stout, need to get on a stout cake...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yum! Hopefully this recipe can provide some inspiration for the cake (warning: lots of butter is involved ;)): http://www.theeconomicaleater.com/2012/07/chocolate-blueberry-stout-cake.html.

      Delete
  5. Grown-up Devil Dogs! I love it!! These are so perfect! I made doughnuts with Guinness this weekend and now I want more boozy desserts! :)

    Sues

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Doughnuts with Guinness sound incredible. Please tell me you're posting the recipe?? :)

      Delete
  6. Yum. I could definitely go for one of these right now! I'll be home for St. Paddy's and my mom is making corned beef and cabbage (which always comes out way better than when I try to make it). I will probably make some sort of dessert.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love desserts that include Guinness, especially the Guinness floats I made a couple of years ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Guinness float sounds so good right now...despite the fact that it's barely 8:30 in the morning.

      Delete
  8. So festive! I'm going to try to make a themed meal to celebrate this weekend!

    ReplyDelete