Baked Sunday Mornings: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

 

About this time last year, I made Red Velvet cupcakes and was hoping to fall in love. They were o.k. I meant to try that recipe again, hoping that it was me, not the cake. But now I probably never will. Look no further for the perfect way to say "I love you." These are easy and delicious and stunning. What more could you ask for in a cookie? I've always wanted to make the classic layer cake, but I've fallen hard for this twist on the Southern classic.

 

These cookies came together so quickly. The moist cookies are reminiscent of cake, but there's no pan to turn them out of (yay!). I was a little concerned with not having any gel food coloring on hand, but there was about a teaspoon of liquid coloring left in the bottle in the cupboard. It was just enough. I like the way these are brick red instead of stop-light red. It's not natural, but it looks more inviting, somehow.

 

But we all know that the most important part is the butter-cream-cheese frosting. The most revolutionary thing in this cookbook is the addition of salt. It's ubiquitous now in caramel and toffee these days, but putting a pinch of salt in this frosting changed my world view. My life just got a little bit better and my baking is going to be so much more addicting. So much for cutting back on the sweets. I'll just have to start eating more vegetables. I can do that. Because I need these cookies in my life and so do you.

   

I went with half and half cookies; which is to say that I put toasted walnuts on half of the cookies for the garnish. They were equally good. I enjoyed the crunch and nutty flavor in the ones with the nuts. But the purist in me loved the ones that were simply cookie and frosting. If you would like the recipe, visit Baked Sunday Mornings and see how other bakers' cookies turned out. Oh, and try not to eat the frosting directly out of the bowl. Some of us around here have no shame, however.