Yummiest Dessert Recipe Ever: Salted Caramel Whoopie Pies

I was chatting at the pool a few weeks ago, with my neighbor, Sunshine, about the joys of salted caramel.  I told her about a local burger restaurant that makes amazing salted caramel milkshakes, and she told me that she has a great recipe for salted caramel whoopie pies.  Imagine my giddy surprise when she dropped these babies by my house a couple of days ago:

 They were disturbingly good, and I say “were” because they didn’t even last 24 hours under our roof!  My husband was out of town, but the kids and I demolished them.  I had one for breakfast with coffee, and another one for dinner with wine (it was a nutritional wasteland, but a delicious one!).  I then set out to get the recipe.  Sunshine graciously shared it, and it turns out that the lovely people at Land O Lakes are the ones who came up with the recipe.  So you know what that means–there’s lots of buttah in the recipe!

The direct link to the recipe is {here}.

Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Filling

Ingredients:

1- 18.25 oz package Devil’s food cake mix with pudding

1/2 c. melted butter

1/2 c. water

3 eggs

1-2 t. sea salt

Filling:

1 c. softened butter

3-1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/3 c. caramel sauce (Sunshine adds a little more–maybe try 1/2 c.)

1 t. sea salt

1 t. vanilla

Directions:

Combine cake mix, 1/2 cup melted butter, water and eggs in large bowl; beat at medium speed until smooth. Let batter rest for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400°F. Drop batter by slightly rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheets {Sunshine uses a cookie/meatball scoop}. Sprinkle each cookie with sea salt. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Transfer to wire cooling rack.

Place 1 cup butter in medium bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; gradually add powdered sugar. Beat until well mixed. Add caramel sauce, 1 teaspoon sea salt and vanilla. Beat until well mixed.

Pipe or spread rounded teaspoonful filling onto bottom of 1 cookie; place second cookie, bottom-side down over filling. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling.

Tips:

–Letting batter rest allows batter to rise and increase volume of whoopie pies.

–To make ahead, bake cookies as directed.  Cool completely.  Placed cooled cookies in single layer in resealable plastic freezer bag.  Freeze up to 2 months.  Let stand at room temperature until thawed.  Prepare filling and fill cookies as directed.

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 130