Tag: Red Food Coloring

Red Velvet Peppermint Whoopie Pies

I’m having a little bit of a red velvet takeover on this blog. After making the Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies, I knew I wanted to make a Whoopie Pie version perfect for the holidays, specifically Red Velvet Peppermint Whoopie Pies! In case you don’t know what a whoopie pie is, they are cake-like cookies with creamy goodness sandwiched in between. They are quite popular in the Philadelphia area due to the influence of the Pennsylvania Dutch. In fact, I had whoopie pies at my wedding (along with cannolis and cupcakes)!

Whoopie pies are a lot easier to make than they look (I promise). These little guys are filled with a peppermint cream cheese filling, so they will get you right in the holiday spirit in no time!

Ingredients (makes 12 whoopie pies):

Red Velvet Cookies (makes 24 cookies):

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 large egg
  • 2/3 cup whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 (0.67 oz) tube gel red food coloring, about 1 tablespoon
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Peppermint Cream Cheese Filling:

  • 2 (8 oz) blocks cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

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Rainbow Cookies (a.k.a Seven-Layer Cookies)

If you’ve never heard of these lovelies, you are not alone. Rainbow cookies are made of almond cake dyed fun bright colors with apricot preserves all sandwiched in between two thin layers of chocolate.

They really aren’t cookies at all, more like thinly packed cake. But whatever the heck they are, they are delicious!

 

 

I don’t really recall these cookies growing up, but my boyfriend (who is from Long Island) absolutely loves them. In fact, he was kind of taken aback when I mentioned I didn’t really know what they were. One of his friends was absolutely horrified; he basically forced me to eat one right then and there which I didn’t complain about. I love them now!

 

So I wanted to try to make these little guys… I’m not sure why. They are awfully difficult (well, more time consuming than difficult). But I was so darn proud of myself when they were done, I don’t even care about the effort I had to put in! The cookies go by a ton of names… Rainbow, Seven Layer, Neapolitan, Tricolor… but I’m pretty sure they tend to be a Christmas staple in Italian households. I found this recipe on Epicurious.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 (12 oz) jar apricot preserves, heated and strained
  • 4 large eggs, separated
  • 1 cup sugar, divided
  • 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 (8 oz) can almond paste
  • 2 cups all purpose flour (or cake flour)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 25 drops red food coloring
  • 25 drops green food coloring
  • 7 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped

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