Chocolate Spice Whoopie Pies

Makes 20 mini or 10 full sized whoopie pies.

I’ve never been a fan of the overly sweet whoopie pies that most people are familiar with. My version of this classic has a bite of cayenne pepper that brings out the deep chocolate flavor of the Dutch processed cocoa which complements the less sweet flavor of the mascarpone cream and chocolate hazelnut Nutella filling.

Cake Ingredients

1 C packed Brown Sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup) Unsalted Butter (softened)

1 Lg Egg

1 C Buttermilk (well-shaken)

1 tsp Vanilla

2 C All-Purpose Flour

1/2 C Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder*

1 Pinch to 1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper*

1 ¼ tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Table Salt

Filling Ingredients

8 oz Mascarpone Cheese*

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

¼ C Confectionary Sugar

1 C Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly spray with cooking spray.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the brown sugar and room temperature butter until light and fluffy. To the creamed mixture, add the eggs until fully incorporated. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and mix well.

 In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, cayenne pepper, baking soda and salt. Add 1/3 of the flour at a time to the wet ingredients until incorporated then beat for one minute. Do not over mix, or the cake will be tough.

Mini Whoopie Pies

Scoop 1 tablespoon of batter approximately 1 ½ inch apart on the cookie sheets. You can bake right away for higher domed cakes, or let sit 5 minutes for wider cakes. Bake the cakes for 9-10 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cakes are springy to the touch.

Full Sized Whoopie Pies

Scoop 2 tablespoon of batter approximately 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. You can bake right away for higher domed cakes, or let sit 5 minutes for wider cakes. Bake the cakes for 12-13 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cakes are springy to the touch.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the 8 oz of mascarpone, 1 tsp vanilla extract and ¼ C of powered sugar on low just until incorporated. Add the Nutella and  until you have no streaks.

To assemble, spread filling on half of the cooled cakes (2 tsp for the mini pies or 4 tsp for the full-sized pies). To make this simpler, place the filling in a gallon zipper bag, cut off a tip of the bag and pipe it on the cakes. Place the halves together and press gently to spread filling to edges. Store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

* Pronto Substitutes

Dutch Processed Cocoa – If you don’t have Dutch processed cocoa, substitute Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder or Scharffen Berger Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder

Cayenne – you can eliminate the cayenne powder for a more traditional flavor or you can increase it to 1/8 teaspoon for a spicier taste.

Mascarpone Cheese – Mascarpone should be used straight from the refrigerator or it will separate. Cream cheese can be substituted but it will give you a sweeter filling and must be at room temperature.

Why Dutch Process Cocoa?

I use Dutch process cocoa whenever I want a deeper chocolate flavor. You can always substitute unsweetened cocoa powder but the chocolate flavor will not be as intense. Because Dutch process cocoa has a neutral pH and is not acidic like natural cocoa, it cannot be used in recipes that use baking soda as the leavening agent, which relies on the acidity of the cocoa to activate it. Rather, Dutch process cocoa can be used in recipes that use baking powder (instead of baking soda) for leavening.

To print a copy of this recipe go to Chocolate Spice Whoopie Pies.