Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Strawberry Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups (245 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter)
Scant 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
5 tablespoons (25 g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 tablespoons (48 g) nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs (100 g, weighed out of shell) at room temperature, lightly beaten
2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided
1 1/2 cups (12 fluid ounces) milk, at room temperature
Red gel food coloring, as desired
1.2 ounces unsweetened freeze dried strawberries
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups (288 g) confectioners’ sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well. Create a well in the dry ingredients, and add the vinegar, 4 tablespoons melted and cooled butter, shortening, eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, milk and food coloring. If you want the pies to be very red, the batter will need to be nearly electric red. I went with a more subdued red. Mix to combine well after each addition. The batter should be thick, but slowly pourable.
Place some batter in a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip (the kind with just a wide, round opening). Pipe the dough into rounds about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and about 1 inch apart (they will spread a bit during baking). Repeat with the remaining batter.
Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when pressed gently in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before peeling back the parchment paper and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.While the cookies are baking and then cooling, make the filling. Place the freeze dried strawberries in a blender or food processor, and process until it turns into finely ground fruit dust. Set it aside.
Place the cream cheese and 4 ounces room temperature butter in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat the butter and cream cheese on high speed until light and fluffy. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla and mix to combine.
Add the confectioner’s sugar and fruit dust, and beat until the sugar and fruit have been absorbed by the wet ingredients. The mixture will be thick and not very smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add 2 tablespoons cream and beat until well combined. Add more cream by the tablespoon if necessary to create a smooth and somewhat shiny mixture. The filling, however, should still be thick.
Line up the cooled cookies on parchment paper, and turn half of them over. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag, and pipe filling onto the underside of the overturned cookies. Top the filling of each with a cookie that is right-side up and roughly the same size as the one with filling. Chill until the filling is firm. Serve filled.
Leftovers should be wrapped individually in plastic wrap and served within a day or so.
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
