Recipe: Bailey's Mint Chocolate Whoopie Pies

By outward appearances, I inherited at least 90% of my dominant genes from my father. I have his eyes, his sister's hair, his side of the family's nose, his sense of humor, his temperament, his math skillz, and his ability to use a computer without having heart palpitations at the thought of attaching a document to an email (ahem. MOM.). 

However, unbeknownst to many, my mother did pass along at least one skill to me. 



And that is the ability to fall asleep within the first fifteen minutes of any movie/tv show/lecture/seminar/(lab meeting). Etcetera.

And by ability...I really mean compulsion.  Because it is SO out of my control. 

Case in point. I used to bring Americanos with FOUR SHOTS of espresso in them to class to help me stay awake. And would still fall asleep mid-cup. It was unreal.



The whole thing has become kind of a laughing point between myself and The.Boy.

At least, it was, until we "watched" Lincoln together on Wednesday night. 

And by that I mean, he, the American history Fa.Na.Tic, was pretty much riveted, while I, the American history illiterate, dozed in and out of consciousness.  I'm not quite sure what the problem was because, let's be honest, we both knew there was no way I was going to make it through that movie, but every five minutes he would attempt to wake me up with with threats of elevating intensity, ranging from "I'm going to quiz you on this before we go to bed" to "I don't even like you anymore" to "I'm going to recommend you for expatriation to the US government RIGHT NOW if you fall asleep ONE MORE TIME". 

Sheesh, I mean...they do say that falling asleep during an Oscar-winning performance is a crime...but in the metaphorical sense...right?

Thankfully, I had a secret weapon with me. In the form of these whoopie pies. You see, I have the privilege of knowing that someone loves mint chocolate almost as much as he loves rattling off esoteric information about all of our past presidents, so I just shoved one in his mouth after the movie was over and all of my sins were absolved.

Well, I still had to endure a pre-bedtime quiz.  But the charge of treason was dropped. So I'd say that's a win.



These whoopie pies are a mint chocolate lover's dream sandwich cookie.  The cookies themselves are a rich moist mint chocolate flavor while the filling is all peppermint buttercream with a hint of Bailey's.  They would be the perfect St. Patrick's day treat (but are also pretty dang good on a random Wednesday)!

GIVEAWAY WINNERS!!!
The winner of the Aida Mollenkamp cookbook giveaway is commenter # 56 - Caitlin Murphy!  Caitlin, please email me at jhbruno87@gmail.com so I can send over your book ASAP. If you don't respond by next Wednesday then I will have to choose another winner.

The winners of the Whole Foods Engine2 giveaway are: alicooks3, Bianca of Confessions of a Chocoholic, Shanna, K Larsen, Shannon of Tri 2 Cook, Averie of Averie Cooks, Ilene, bjn1957@gmail.com, Christina, Lauren of Healthy Delicious, Candace of Mi Chiamo Candace, Christine of Greyhouse Journal, Brian of A Thought For Food, Natalie of Once Upon A Cutting Board, Lily, Cathleen of A Taste of Madness, Donna of Apron Strings Blog, Sarah of The Pajama Chef, Tanya, and Julia Menn. 

Again, please email me at jhbruno87@gmail.com especially if you did not leave your contact info! (alicooks3, Shanna, Ilene, Christina, Lily, and Tanya - I am talking to you!!)



One year ago...Shepherd's Pie with Chard-Lentil Filling and Onion Gravy
Two years ago...Kerala-Style Edamame Curry
Three years ago...Pioneer Woman's Baked Lemon Pasta
Four years ago...Cajun Chickpea Cakes with Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Oatmeal Raisin Pancakes

Bailey's Mint Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Makes 20 whoopie pies, adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients
For the mint chocolate cookies: 

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 9 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp peppermint extract

For the Bailey's mint buttercream filling: 

• 2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 tbsp Bailey's Irish cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• green gel food coloring (optional)

Instruction

1. In a medium bowl, soft together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix in the egg. Add in the buttermilk and peppermint extract. Mix until well combined (it will look curdled at this point but keep going!).  Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to chill.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Using a cookie scoop (mine scoops about 1 1/2 tbsp dough), portion the batter onto one of the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cookies spring back when gently pressed. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for a few minutes before removing them from the sheet and putting them on the wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough, alternating baking sheets.
5. To make the filling, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the confectioner's sugar and butter. They should be crumbly. Add the Bailey's, vanilla extract, peppermint extract and salt. Beat on high speed until light, fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. If you want green buttercream dip the back of a fork in the gel coloring and then dip it into the frosting. Mix until evenly distributed.
6. Match the cookie pairs by size. Pipe frosting on the flat side of one cookie and then sandwich the cookies together, pressing the filling to the edges.