Root Beer Float Whoopie Pies

Classes start next week, so naturally, I’ve been baking to excess. And I’m on a mission to find a root beer-related recipe that I find satisfactory. These come close.Ever since my epic search for root beer ingredients – which was ultimately disappointing – I’ve been determined to find a way to incorporate root beer flavoring into a dessert. I discovered with those cookies (and a cake I never got around to posting about), root beer and chocolate do not go together in my repertoire of delicious flavors.

So, I’ve been looking for something that was straight up root beer flavored, and whoopie pies were the first thing that came to mind. I was surprised that I didn’t find that many recipes, but this one seemed promising.

However, I kind of wanted to call these Root Beer Float-esque Whoopie Pies, ’cause they don’t quite nail it on the root beer. It’s there, but it’s more of an ambiance than a strong presence. And that’s after I upped the dosage of concentrate. So, they’re not off the table in terms of root beer desserts for future reference, but I’ll likely add even more of the concentrate if I make them again.

And I’ll definitely insist on using the Cooked Buttercream Frosting as the filling – as it makes these much more Float-like than traditional buttercream ever could. With the cooked buttercream as the filling, the pies aren’t overly sweet and it really gives it an “ice cream” sort of feel/flavor.

My pies turned out a bit on the dry side – not sure if that was over-baking or the recipe. Admission: this is my first effort at making whoopie pies, so I don’t have a basis of comparison for recipe integrity. The glorious filling offsets the dryness, but still.

What I do know about making whoopie pies is that using parchment paper is integral to success, since these are sticky and would probably either spread all over the place or stick to the pan without it. So don’t skip that part.

Root Beer Float Whoopie Pies (adapted from Mom Foodie)

Grade: A-

• ¼ cup shortening, room temperature
• ½ cup butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups flour
• 1 large egg
• ¾ cup buttermilk OR 3 tablespoons buttermilk powder and ¾ cup water
• ½ cup milk (or water)
• 4 tsp root beer concentrate
• ½ tsp vanilla

For filling: Cooked Buttercream Frosting

Preheat oven to 375°F, and line baking sheets with parchment paper

Cream together the butter, shortening, sugars and salt – beating until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the egg to the butter mixture and beat just until incorporated. Then add the additional liquids and beat just until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Using a soup spoon (or a regular table spoon), scoop approximately 2 Tbs (or just a large glob) of the batter onto parchment, leaving a couple inches between. Spread the batter a bit to get them relatively even/circular. They will puff up/spread out quite a bit while baking, so don’t put them too close together. (I fit nine pies on a half sheet baking pan).

Bake for approximately 7-8 minutes, until center of batter has set. Then, remove from the oven and let cool on the pan for a couple minutes before transferring to wire cooling racks.

Once cooled, fill with a heaping dose of cooked buttercream frosting.