Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Icing

There's something so compelling about whoopie pies; they're the soft sweetness of cake with all the delicious icing, but in a no-fuss package.  You don't need to mess around with plates and knives and forks with these babies, just pick them up out of their container and eat them.  I hope that you enjoy this easy recipe!

Recipe adapted from: Top With Cinnamon via My Name Is Yeh
Ingredients - whoopie pies
110g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
220g white sugar
2 eggs
50g sour cream
2 tbsp cocoa powder
250g flour
1 tsp baking powder

Ingredients - icing
38g butter (room temperature is best)
75g cream cheese (room temperature is best)
1 tsp vanilla essence
75g icing sugar

Method - whoopie pies
1. Preheat the oven to 175 C (350 F).

2. Cream the butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs and sour cream, beat until combined.

4. Stir in the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder.  Mix until combined and smooth.  The batter should be nice and thick at this point.

5. Drop 1 1/2 tablespoon sized dollops of batter onto a baking tray lined with a silicone mat or baking paper.  I used a piping bag for this, which is super quick and convenient, but you can just as easily use a spoon.  The whoopie pies spread a bit so make sure you leave enough room between them.

6. Bake the whoopie pies for about 10 minutes, or until they are springy to the touch.

7. Set them onto a wire rack to cool, and get started making the icing!

Method - icing
1. Mix all the icing ingredients together.  I find that using an electric hand beater or electric mixer is best for this, to ensure that everything's completely smooth.

2. Once the whoopie pies are cool, pair them up and spread one half of each pair with the icing.

3. Sandwich them together and enjoy!

I hope that you all had a great holiday and new year!