Baking fun with Kids -- Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

 

 

My little helper

I love baking, especially cookies, and am always trying to find new recipes.  Last Valentine's Day, I was babysitting my niece and wanted us to bake something other than the holiday-themed sugar cookies I normally do.  I looked all over the internet and found one that sounded perfect.  I just baked them again a few days ago and they were tasty!

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies (yields approximately 18 sandwich cookies)

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, (room temperature)
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk, (room temperature)
½ ounce red food coloring (more or less depending on how intense you want it...original recipe called for an ounce and that was too much for me)

Filling:
 
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position; preheat oven to 375F.  Trace evenly spaced hearts on parchment paper using a template or cookie cutter.  My 3-year old niece was my helper so she traced the hearts. 

This is perfect for the little ones to practice tracing.

Once finished tracing your shapes, line baking sheets with the parchment paper.

Mio loves helping me bake.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

In large mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add egg and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Blend in the vanilla.

Add about one-third of flour mixture followed by half of buttermilk, mixing until incorporated after each addition. Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk. Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds.  Blend in food coloring.

Spoon the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip.  Pipe the batter onto the parchment paper using the tracings as a guide. 

Ready for the oven!

Bake 7-9 minutes until the tops are set.  Rotate the sheets half-way through baking.  Cool cookies on baking sheets.

Ready to be filled!

For the filling, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until smooth.  Mix in the vanilla.  Gradually add powdered sugar, scraping down the sides as necessary, until completely incorporated and filling is smooth.

Before filling the cookies, pair them up by size and shape.  Pipe or spoon frosting onto the flat side of one cookie leaving some room around the edge.  Gently sandwich the cookies together allowing the filling to reach the edges. 

To store: Refrigerate in airtight container up to 4 days. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

Happy baking!

Please be sure to check out more of my photography at www.DigitalWonderlandPhotography.com, "like" my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter .

If you are interested in travel, I also have a travel blog at Travelisa.

Thank you for stopping by and happy baking!

Sources

Cookies adapted from Annie's Eats and Dinner and Dessert, originally from Better Homes & Gardens, December 2008.

Frosting adapted from Annie's Eats, originally from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Crafting Fun - Valentine's Day Potato Stamps

As a child, I used to have so much fun creating things or working on crafts.  One of them was making potato stamps.  Last Valentine's Day, I was babysitting my niece who was three at the time and I thought she would really enjoy making some stamps and cards.  When I explained what we were going to do, she became very excited. 

Here are the supplies you will need:

Potatoes
Knife
Water-based paint
Paper plate (to keep the paint and painted potatoes on)
Card stock or construction paper
Scratch paper
Smock (good idea for the little ones)

Steps 1 and 2 should be done by an adult.

1)     Wash the potatoes and cut them in half.

2)     Draw the shape you desire on the cut potato.  Items such
         as small cookie cutters can be used to trace the shapes. 
         In my case, I didn't have anything to use to create hearts
         so I just winged it and started cutting.  Cut around the
         shape with a kitchen knife, leaving the design so it is
         raised on the surface of the potato.      
 



Mio was excited to start stamping!

3)     Start out with a little paint on a paper plate and add
         more as needed.  Dab the potato into the paint. 
         If there is too much paint on the potato, just stamp
         it a few times on scratch paper to remove the excess.

4)     Have fun and stamp away!  If you want to use different
         colors, just wash the potato and start again. 

Mio busy making Valentine cards for everyone.

5)     When you have stamped what you want, let the paper or
         card dry.  Once dry, you can add to it.  Some fun ideas
         include adding glitter, buttons, or fabric.  

She was so proud of her work.

 

Mio signing her works of art.

The important thing is to have fun! 

Please be sure to check out more of my photography at www.DigitalWonderlandPhotography.com or "like" my page on Facebook.

If you are interested in travel, I also have a travel blog at Travelisa.

Thank you for stopping by and have a fun time creating!