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These chocolate peppermint whoopie pies start with a rich chocolate cookie and are filled with a buttercream frosting with a hint of peppermint. Top the cookies with a bit of peppermint candy for a festive holiday look! 

Tower of chocolate peppermint whoopie pies sitting on a marble platter. One cookie in front has a bit taken out of it

Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pie Overview

Whoopie pies are literally cake in cookie form! The cookie part is a thick cake batter cooked into little cookies and the filling is typically buttercream frosting. 

For our chocolate peppermint whoopie pies we are making a thick chocolate cake batter to bake into cookies. The turn out fluffy and moist and then we fill them with a simple american buttercream flavored with a hint of peppermint! 

Chocolate peppermint whoopie pies piled up sitting on a marble platter. One cookie in front has a bit taken out of it

How to Make Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies

The mixing method for the cookie part of these chocolate whoopie pies is the creaming method for cakes. This method is a bit different than the creaming method for cookies, but the batter for the cookies is a thick cake batter rather a cookie dough. 

Step 1: Mix Together the Dry Ingredients

For this mixing method, you want to start by mixing together the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately. The cocoa powder in these cookies can be either dutch processed or natural cocoa powder. I like to use natural cocoa powder for a more rich chocolate flavor. 

Step 2: Mix Together the Wet Ingredients

The wet ingredients in a liquid measuring cup after being stirred together.

Mix together the wet ingredients, except the eggs, together separately. We are using buttermilk and coffee as our wet ingredients. The cookies will not taste like coffee, rather it will make the cookies have a more intense chocolate flavor. 

Step 3: Cream the Butter and Sugar Together + Add Eggs

Next, we are going cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. It is important that the butter is at room temperature to do this properly. 

Egg and vanilla added into the mixing bowl for the chocolate whoopie pies

After the butter and sugar is really fluffy, you can mix in the egg and vanilla extract. 

Step 4: Alternate Adding Dry & Wet Ingredients

For the last part of mixing, you want to alternate adding in the dry and wet ingredients. This is because the creamed butter and sugar cannot absorb a lot of liquid at once. So we add a little dry, then some wet, then more dry, then wet, and so on. This creates the lightest cake batter. 

Start with one third of the dry ingredients and mix in. Then add half of the wet ingredients and mix that in. Then add a second third of the dry, followed by the rest of the wet, then end with the rest of the dry. 

Final chocolate whoopie pie batter being mixed with a hand mixer. The mixture is smooth and chocolate in color

Your batter should look nice and smooth after you are done. If the batter looks broken with fat and liquid separating, you can still bake it and it will be fine. But it means that the ingredients weren’t incorporated properly and the cookies might not be as tender and fluffy. 

Step 5: Scoop & Bake

Scooping small rounds of chocolate whoopie pie batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet

Scoop about 1 TBSP of batter for each cookie on parchment lined baking sheets and allow room for some spreading.

I like to bake the cookies almost all the way through and then pull them out and add the peppermint pieces on top and then let them finish baking. If you add them at the beginning they will melt into the cookie. 

Step 6: Fill the Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Buttercream

Fill the cooled cookies with the peppermint buttercream and press two halves together. Store the cookies wrapped in the refrigerator. An airtight container will cause them to become soggy. 

 
Chocolate peppermint whoopie pies all piled up sitting on a marble platter. One cookie in front has a bit taken out of it
Yield: About 25 Small Whoopie Pies

Chocolate and Peppermint Whoopie Pies

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 33 minutes

These chocolate peppermint whoopie pies start with a rich chocolate cookie and are filled with a buttercream frosting with a hint of peppermint. Top the cookies with a bit of peppermint candy for a festive holiday look! 

Ingredients

For the Cookies

  • 1 3/4 cups (210 gr) all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cups (78 gr) cocoa powder (natural or dutch processed)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) strong coffee
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks, 170 gr) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup (150 gr) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • broken up peppermint pieces for topping (*optional)

For the Peppermint Filling

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick, 113 gr) butter, room temp
  • 2 cups (240 gr) powdered sugar
  • 2 TBSP (30 ml) milk
  • 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

For the Cookies

  1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate small bowl, stir together the coffee and buttermilk. Set both aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium high speed until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Mix in the egg and vanilla until just absorbed.
  4. With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture in three additions and buttermilk/coffee mixture, in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
  5. Drop heaping tablespoons (preferably using a small ice cream scoop) of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Smooth the tops of the cookies with moistened fingers if needed.
  6. Bake at 375 (190 C) for 4 minutes, then take out and sprinkle peppermint pieces on top of half of the cookies if desired. Bake for 1-3 more minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Peppermint Buttercream

  1. Beat ingredients together until light and fluffy.
  2. Fill cooled cookies with buttercream and press two cookies together.


To store: cover loosely with foil or plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. The cookies will become soggy if stored in an airtight container.

© Bettie
Cuisine: Dessert / Category: Holiday