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.

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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!

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