Cupcake-palooza '15: Vanilla Buttermilk Nutella Cupcakes

Recently, I have felt strongly compelled to return to the humble beginnings of my baking dreams and reignited my love of cupcakery. In the month of April alone, I have managed to make as many cupcake posts (see also Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes and Hummingbird Cupcakes) as I did in the previous two years. While this resurgence of living a hard life of cupcaking is likely an attempt to assert my alpha maleness on my new city (bad bakers 4 life!), it has been a most welcome one amongst my friends and coworkers. This past weekend, we hosted a party for the residents in Robin's program and I knew exactly what baked goodness I needed to contribute to the festivities.

Vanilla Buttermilk Nutella Cupcakes
Modified Heavily from Martha Stewart
Servings: 36 cupcakes
Time: 45 minutes

Crazy thin batter

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Nutella (lots of it)
1 batch Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting
Awesome sprinkles

As you can see, I was very scientific and precise with my Nutella spoonfuls.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Mix the eggs, water, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract together in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones in 2-3 increments. Mix until well incorporated.
5. Fill lined muffin tins 2/3 full with batter. Top with a spoonful of Nutella in the center.
6. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the toothpick test comes out clean.
7. Make the single greatest use of sugar in all of existence, Nutella cream cheese frosting. Stick to the lower end of powdered sugar if using actual Nutella. 
8. Sprinkle until your inner child is satisfied and enjoy.

The Nutella is practically teasing you with just a hint of its presence.

Nutella is the single greatest weapon someone could have to make simple desserts seem amazingly rich and complex. The vanilla buttermilk cupcakes themselves were nicely moist and bouncy (thanks to employing my current obsession of using oil over butter and the super aerating buttermilk), but they would have benefited from a little more vanilla. Fortunately the gooey Nutella center instantly catapults the cake into rarified air. Even with all those great components, everything plays second fiddle to the Nutella cream cheese frosting (which managed to entrap Robin in its Siren spell). This frosting is the stuff of dreams (to quote our friend Bridget), and has proven to yet again to be the best use of sugar that I have ever found (see Cafe du Monde Cupcakes). In the end, these cupcakes were essentially a grown-up flavor blasted version of everyone's favorite yellow cake with chocolate frosting that is sure to have you and your guests salivating for more.

If for some reason you do not have a cupboard full of sprinkles, feel free to improvise and use fruit instead.

Easter Redux: Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes

Way back three Easters ago Robin and I had a great flirt bake-athon where I taught her the ways of the holiday with adorably decorated Sugar Cookies, the only time peeps have ever been tasty, and the true candy spirit of the season capturing Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes. While we thoroughly enjoyed eating cupcakes stuffed with the greatest holiday candy known to man, I always felt like something was missing. They were great but not nearly memorable enough to be worthy of their British namesake.

This year, I decided to prove how far my baking skills have come over the past few years by combining all the knowledge I have acquired over time to generate the ultimate Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcake. I was going to have to dig deep going all the way back to my first ever time baking cupcakes with Jenny (which is sadly pre-blog) to achieve maximum Easter.

Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes Take Deux
Cake Adapted from Food.com and Previously seen Here
Ganache Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa
Time: 90 minutes
Servings: 36 cupcakes


Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour

Yet another great culinary Rorschach Test. I see a dog dancing!

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
10 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp vanilla
16 oz cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
36 Mini Cadbury Creme Eggs, frozen
36 Crispy Cadbury Mini Eggs

Ganache
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream

My double boiler needs some work

1. Decide to show everyone that your Easter game is on point.
2. Hate yourself for thinking that statement.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
4. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
5. Make the creamy sugar filling by beating the cream cheese until soft. Then add beat in the eggs and sugar until smooth. Set aside.
6. Stir the milk, vegetable oil, cider vinegar, and vanilla together with in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed.
7. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the oil mixture at low speed until just incorporated. 
8. Fill lined cupcake tins ~ half full with batter. Scoop ~1 tbsp of the filling on top of each, and insert a frozen mini creme egg in the center. It is extremely important that you do not overfill as the egg will displace a decent amount of batter. The overfilled ones will tend to get horrible dimples above the creme egg (which are thankfully covered up with ganache).
9. Bake for 14-18 minutes (rotating once halfway through) or until the toothpick test comes back clean and the tops have set.
10. Let the cupcakes cool on wire racks.
11. While the cupcakes cool make the ganache by stirring the chocolate chips and heavy cream together in a double boiler until melted and smooth.
12. Frost each cupcake with ganache, and top with a crispy mini egg. For best results, serve cold.

These cupcakes already look like the most fun ever and they don't even have frosting yet!

It is unbelievably fortunate that science says calories don't count on holidays, because I don't even want to think about the Sisyphean task that would be attempting to work these off (which would at least keep you busy until next Easter). Many times during my baking career I have thought that I could not possibly make anything more rich or decadent (see Pop Tart Cake, Car Bomb Cupcakes, and two versions of Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes), but time and time again I have proven myself wrong. When cream filled candy is the least sinful aspect of your dessert, you just know it's gonna be good (and worthy of a tall glass of milk). The black and white cupcake featured my favorite moist and bouncy chocolate cake recipe that was only made more absurdly delectable by the smooth cream cheese swirl that perfectly embodied the creamy heart of our hidden Cadbury treat. The ganache emphasized the bursting chocolate flavor and helped replicate the egg shell, while the crispy egg garnish added a nice crunch to all the gooey goodness contained in the cake. Our last attempt may have been great, but these were unholy levels of legendary. Fortunately for us, it only makes sense to eat them once a year.

Failure to properly place the egg or putting too much batter will lead to some interesting developments once the cupcakes start to cool. Fortunately, ganache will hide this.

Layer upon layer of pure, absurdly rich perfection. This is my favorite picture ever not involving dogs.

Hummingbird Cupcakes

Since starting my part-time work at a doctor's office during the Great Job Hunt of '15, I have taken it upon myself to conduct extensive diabetes research among the office staff by bringing my baked goods to a new state. This past week, our young whippersnapper of a boss had his birthday, and I was tasked with supplying the confections and with telling him how your body breaks down once you're no longer 25 (here's to infinitely longer hangovers and bum knees!). I decided to embrace the great Southern charm of Charleston with the most requested recipe in the history of Southern Living- the fruit filled cinnamony delight known as hummingbird cake.

Would the office be inspired by my latest round of cupcake magic leading to a promotion, or would I be out on the streets begging for work?

Hummingbird Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Southern Living
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Time: 60 minutes

Do not be deceived into thinking you're making muffins.

Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple with juices
1 cup chopped pecans, plus additional for topping
2 cups chopped bananas

Frosting
16 oz cream cheese, softened to near room temp
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4-6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon

Make sure you only focus on the really pretty one in the center. The fruit inside may lead to some interesting dimples...

1. Sip on a mint julep to get in the proper Southern spirit.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
4. Stir in the eggs and oil until the dry ingredients are just moistened.
5. Mix in the vanilla, pineapple, pecans, and bananas until evenly distributed.
6. Fill cupcake tins ~ 2/3 full with batter.
7. Let bake for 18-22 minutes until golden and the toothpick test comes back clean (be careful of pineapple and banana messing up the test).
8. Let cool on wire racks.
9. While cooling, make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then beat in the butter. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until you reach the desired sweetness. Stir in the cinnamon and vanilla extract.
10. Top your cupcakes with frosting and additional pecans. 
11. Resist the urge to eat them all before sharing with your coworkers. 

Since there was not already enough sugar in the cupcakes themselves, I just had to add on pure sugar lettering for extra fanciness.

In the least shocking development ever, it turns out Southern Living knows what they're talking about when it comes to cake. My only real change to the cake was adding more vanilla (which is a given in pretty much every dessert I make), while I added cinnamon and altered some of the ratios of the frosting to reflect some of my previous cupcakery. Hummingbird cake is one of the most moist, delicious desserts you will ever have. The banana and pineapple filling kept the cake interesting without adding much additional work while also preventing it from drying out, and the cinnamon cream cheese frosting reinforced the spiced nature of the cake without making it overpoweringly sweet. When all was said and done, the office was abuzz with praises of the cupcakes, and I was allowed to stick around for at least a little longer.

See if you can guess where I decided to stop worrying about a piping tip and just started piling on delicious frosting.

Pi Day: Bayou Goo Pie

Saturdays in high school were spent on the battlefield. Legends were forged and Letterman Jackets were earned one equation at a time at Mu Alpha Theta math competitions across the state of Louisiana. The pressure was enough to snap your perfectly sharpened number two pencil and make you throw your TI-86 across the room (something I saw happen more than once).  The mathletes needed a leader, and as their president I was there to guide the way to glory.  I answered to only one person (aside from Pythagoras), and that was Mrs. Vedros. Whether putting up with a bunch of teenagers randomly serenading her with "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" at the Math State Convention Dance (yeah you wish you could have been there) or giving us moon pies to teach us about the importance of Pi Day, she was always there to make sure math won the day.

Some of the finest Mathletes the state of Louisiana has ever seen: (L to R) Eric, Thienan, Perry "P-Squared", and yours truly holding the massive trophy. I know it's hard to believe, but we were all single when this picture was taken.

Despite having the blog for over three years now, I had never properly celebrated Pi Day (aside from Kevin's write-up of Bumbleberry Pie). As this was the ultimate once in a century Pi Day extending all the way out to four decimal places (3.1415), I was not going to settle for another year of staring longingly at other people's pies on Facebook. I was going to recreate one of the greatest dessert concoctions from the pie Eden known as House of Pies that started it all and make my fellow mathletes proud.

Me in all my glory in high school (far left) receiving my outstanding math student award from Mrs. Vedros. Sadly my killer (and against the Catholic school dress code) side burns cannot be properly admired.

Bayou Goo Pie
Filling adapted from Real Cajun Recipes and Crust from All Recipes
Servings: 1 ~ 28.3" circumference Pie
Time: 20 minutes (plus setting in the fridge overnight or at least 2 hours)

Crust
1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
6 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Filling and Topping
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
8 oz Cool Whip (separated)
1 (4 oz) box chocolate instant pudding
1 (4 oz) box vanilla instant pudding
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk chocolate chips (separated)
Cocoa powder, sifted

Amazing graham cracker crust ready in under 15 minutes.  

Calculate the proper dish depth or be "forced" to eat the excess

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Make the easiest crust ever by mixing the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter, and cinnamon together in a bowl.  Press the mix into a 9" pie tin. Bake for 7-10 minutes until golden and crisp.
3. Let cool to a level greater than or equal to how awesome you were in high school.
4. Make the first layer by combining the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and half of the cool whip using the whisk attachment of an electric mixer. 
5. Stir in half the chocolate chips and fill in the first layer of pie.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk the puddings, milk, and vanilla together. Stir in the chocolate chips, and let set for 5 minutes.
7. Create a pudding layer on top of the cream cheese layer. Cover and let set over night.
8. Top with the remaining cool whip and dust on some cocoa powder.
9. Relive your glory days in math club while enjoying a delightful slice.

The pie should be filled with peaks, like those that we fortunately did not reach in high school.

For being by far the easiest pie to make, this also just may have been the tastiest as it stacked up quite nicely to its House of Pies inspiration. The graham cracker crust was a departure from the standard pecan crust of a Bayou Goo pie, but it did invoke the childhood sensation of eating s'mores. Future attempts could involve using both graham cracker and pecan in the crust at 0.927 and 0.573 cups, respectively, for a beautiful golden ratio achieving the best of all worlds. Resting gloriously above that crust lies the amazing cream cheese and chocolate vanilla layers (reminiscent of Black and White Cupcakes). My only regret (other than not having a kiddie pool filled with it) was that my pie dish was not deep enough to allow for maximum enjoyment of all layers.

Attempts to calculate the rate of consumption were hindered by its exponentially growing nature due to optimal deliciousness.

While enjoying my Pi Day creation, I took some time to think back fondly on my Mu Alpha Theta days. Some of my best high school experiences were those weekends where my fellow square pegs and I got to forget about our lack of sports acumen at a school that best resembled Varsity Blues meets Friday Night Lights and come together to kick some scantron ass. From Thienan's and my attempts to see how many times we could karaoke Sk8er Boi on the bus before even our fellow geeks turned against us (the answer is about 3) to coming in second to what I am still convinced is the world's first sentient robot in FACTORIAL!, a Jeopardy like event at State, thanks to my encyclopedic movie knowledge to Perry and I pushing each other with our rivalry to be the smartest mathlete around driving us to new, mathier heights, I will never forget all the fun times we had just being ourselves. We were nerds, and we loved it. We even have the trophies to prove it.

Next up: Mole Day!

Two Mu Alpha Theta presidents partaking in some Quiz Bowl and most likely answering the question "Who is the most awesome mathlete of them all?".

Brinner Madness: Sriracha Waffles

In this period of life transition where I currently reside, I have come up with a new life goal- to make waffles more often (Yep, I'm definitely getting a little ambitious over here. It's a good thing that I'm too young to run for president...). Perhaps I am overcompensating for the loss of my beloved Parks and Rec, or maybe my body is expressing its cravings for delicious breakfast-fare that my usual granola bar as I leave the house just can't satisfy.

Tonight I found myself in a brinner kind of mood, and it was time to try a savory waffle after the previous two Funfetti and Chocolate varieties. Could I find inspiration in the ghosts of Kimchi Pancakes from long ago and deliver a spicy dish worthy of the sriracha name?

Sriracha Waffles
Heavily Modified from All Recipes
Servings: 4-6 waffles
Time: 20 minutes

1 egg, beaten

If it doesn't appear super-saturated with sriracha, then you're not done.

1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup and 2 tbsp milk
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 white onion, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
Sriracha, to taste (but use loads of it)
Turkey sausage patties
Eggs, fried or poached
Cheddar cheese, grated
Black Pepper

1. Beat the eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, and oil together in a medium bowl until a smooth batter forms.
2. Mix in tons of sriracha. Then just when you think you have enough, put at least 25% more.
3. Stir in the jalapeno and onion.
4. Pour into a preheated waffle iron until crispy and golden ~5 minutes. These are best served fresh for maximum crispness, but you can keep them warm in an oven preheated to 200 F while you work through the batches.
5. Top with sausage patties, egg, cheese, black pepper, and additional sriracha.

Feel free to just roll it up and eat it like street food at this point. 

By itself, this spicy waffle would make a wonderful hand-held snack, but combined with the day starting power of sausage, a poached egg, and cheese, this became a hearty meal for the ages deserving of a spot amongst the Brinner of the Gods (I'm also pretty sure I figured out Taco Bell's next big campaign). The crispy veggie filled waffle provided exactly the spicy sriracha goodness I was hoping for and should be wrapped around all breakfast foods imaginable, while the gooey ruptured poached egg brought each and every bite together in beautiful breakfast-y harmony. Sometimes, it's good to succeed at your life's goals no matter how insignificant or delicious they may be.

Is there any greater satisfaction in life than breaking an egg yolk? Feel the power!

Here's to Leslie Knope: Funfetti and Chocolate Waffles

For the past seven years, Parks and Rec has provided countless half hours of pure joy. More so than any show on television, it was about hope and never left you without smile on your face the size of Lil' Sebastian. From Duke Silver to Bert Macklin to Jean-Ralphio, Parks always found a ridiculous way to make us laugh. When it came time to both celebrate fellow Parks fanatic (and award winning shortbread decorator) Kathryn's birthday as well as watch the finale, we knew what we had to do (sorry, Ben, but calzones just aren't dessert food). The result was an amazingly delicious night of birthday waffles that would have made the world's greatest fake public servant, Leslie Knope, proud.

For the life of me, I will never understand why Jerry Terry Garry looks so sad here.

Funfetti Waffles
Adapted from Celebrations.com
Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 3-4 large waffles

Now you have to decide if it goes in a cake pan or a waffle iron

Waffles
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Funfetti Cake mix
3 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp  salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Colorful sprinkles to your heart's content

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
4 tbsp Funfetti Cake mix
4 tbsp milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Even more colorful sprinkles, preferably shaped like dinosaurs

1. Preheat your oven to 200 F.
2. Whisk the flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. 
3. Make a well and add in the eggs, milk, olive oil, and vanilla extract. 
4. Whisk together until a thick batter forms. 
5. Stir in extra sprinkles to make it more colorful.
6. Add ~ 1/3 of the mix to a hot waffle iron coated with cooking spray and cook until the waffle is easily removed (typically ~3-5 minutes). Keep waffles warm in the oven after they're done.
7. Make the glaze by whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl. Change it to your desired consistency by adding milk or powdered sugar. The current recipe is on the thick side.
8. Prove to the world that bringing your sprinkles with you during your move was the best choice ever and decorate the hell out of some waffles.

Layer upon layer of sugar the way god intended. 

Of our two waffles, I think these were the most up Leslie's alley. It's a waffle made of cake! The funfetti taste (and of course fun) really came through in this unique sugar bomb that held the distinction of being the birthday girl's favorite. Plus it finally gave me a chance to prove to Robin that bringing all of my sprinkles with me during the move was not in fact insane (dinosaur sprinkles all the way!). My only regret was that we have a thinner waffle maker and these would have been even more caketastic in larger, Belgium Waffle form.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Waffles
Adapted from Alton Brown
Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6-8 large waffles

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 eggs at room temp, beaten
2 oz unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
16 oz buttermilk, room temp
Milk chocolate chips
Whipped cream
Raspberries

1. Preheat your oven to 200 F.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, melted (and cooled) butter, vanilla, and buttermilk together. Make sure to have these near room temp, or your batter may take on a weird consistency.
4. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and whisk well.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Ladle the desired amount into the waffle iron and let cook until finished (typically around 3-5 minutes). Keep waffles warm in the oven until finished.
7. Apply a small, yet pretty amount of whipped cream and raspberries for the picture. Immediately add a Leslie Knope-ian amount once said pictures are taken.

Picture showcases ~1/10 of the final amount of whipped cream used while eating.

For Robin and I, these chocolate waffles won the night. The perfect amount of chocolate soothed us while we said goodbye to our favorite show, but it also allowed us to have tons of fun with a can of whipped cream while we made sure each bite of waffle was properly covered (and then washed them down with some straight from the source). These were great for the size/texture that our waffle maker produces, and they blew away my previous attempt at chocolate waffles.

Parks taught us many important life lessons like the love of breakfast foods

These waffles provided us with a proper sendoff for our most beloved Parks crew, while they in turn gave us one of the most brilliant and rewarding finales ever. I thought I was going to be sad to see my tv friends go, but I was too busy being excited and smiling yet again while watching their pitch perfect futures. Goodbye, Pawnee, and thanks for everything!

I now leave you with the immortal wisdom of Leslie Knope.

"We need to remember what's important in life: friends, waffles, work. Or waffles, friends, work. Doesn't matter, but work is third."

Super Bowl Coffee Whoopie Pies

For last year's Super Bowl, I may have gone slightly overboard by making a dish for each team (see Denver's Double Cheddar Beer Bread and Seattle's White Mocha Caramel Frappuccino Cupcakes), so this year I decided to consolidate my baking into one mega-cookie encompassing both teams with the New England staple whoopie pie featuring a coffee cream cheese filling in honor of the land of Starbucks.

Coffee Whoopie Pies
Adapted from this post, Mrs. Fields, and Food Network
Time: 60 minutes (plus cooling)
Servings: 6 giant whoopie pies

Properly mixed batter

Cookies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground espresso
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup salted butter, softened
3 large eggs, room temp
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Sugar and butter made better with caffeine!

Filling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
2 cups powdered sugar
3-5 tbsp freshly brewed espresso (I used Cafe Bustelo)

1. Preheat the oven to 300 F.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, ground espresso, and cocoa powder together in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugars together in a stand mixer until they form a grainy paste.
4. Mix in the vanilla and one egg at a time until fully incorporated. 
5. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture in several batches. Be careful not to overmix.
6. Stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Scoop ~ an ice cream scoop's worth of batter onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking sheet. This is key to get the right cookie height and texture.
8. Bake for 18-22 minutes, rotating once halfway through. When the edges start to firm up, they are done.
9. Let cool on the baking sheets for an additional 3 minutes. Then transfer to wire racks to finish.
10. Make the filling by creaming the butter, salt and cream cheese together until smooth using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Make sure the cream cheese and butter are near room temp or you'll get nasty lumps.
11. Mix in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. 2 cups gives a good level of sweetness that isn't overwhelming, but feel free to adjust.
12. Add in the brewed espresso 1 tbsp at a time until you reach the desired level of amazing coffee flavor. 
13. Once the cookies have cooled, assemble the whoopie pies by scooping frosting in between two giant cookies.
14. Let cool in the fridge until ready to serve (at least 1 hour).

They already look so perfect and they're not even sandwiched around frosting yet!

Whoopie pies may just be my favorite dessert, and this was the closest I have come to recreating the SusieCakes awesomeness that introduced me to them. Using a silicone baking sheet produced the best cookie quality yet, as the cookies spread less and maintained their jaw-unhinging height better than ever before (it's also important not to overmix or you'll get a batter that's far too thin). The coffee flavor did not really come through in the cookie (thanks to all the awesome chocolate), but the frosting more than made up for it, as the coffee alterations led to the best whoopie pie filling I have made yet.

This juggernaut of a cookie sandwich casts a large shadow over all other baked goods

Now enjoy a special addendum on an alternate version of the cookie that I made during one of my Robin Night Shift care packages.

The Radioactive Cherry Almond Cookie Option

I was worried they were going to jump up and attack me.

Additional Ingredients (cookie only)

Maraschino cherries, drained and cut in half

Almond slivers

Switch in dark chocolate cocoa powder 

This cookie previously appeared in the toxic waste scene at the end of Robocop.

1. Go to the store hoping to get fresh cherries for some amazing cookies. Realize it's winter, and there are no fresh cherries available, so settle for super sweet, bright red maraschino cherries.
2. Follow the above recipe for making the cookies but substitute in the dark chocolate cocoa powder, and stir in the cherries and almonds at the end.
3. Be amazed that something that looks like a melting alien can taste so good!

Success! One of them looked normal and edible!

Despite their odd, radioactive appearance, these cookies were actually pretty tasty. I was hoping to recreate the amazingness of these Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Muffins in unhealthier seeming cookie form, and for the most part I succeeded. This definitely will require some revisiting with fresh cherries at a later day to achieve maximum cookie excellence.