Phenomenal Phoods

Nutty Cranberry Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup applesauce or Greek yogurt
• A few drops green food colouring
• 3 1/2 cups Kodiak Cakes almond poppy seed mix
• 1 cup ground pistachios
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the cranberry buttercream:

• 1 cup cranberries
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/3 cup butter (softened)

Instructions:

For the cookies:

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.
2. Add the eggs and the applesauce or yogurt, mixing just until combined. Add in the green food colouring at this point and mix just until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
4. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just until combined.
5. Chill dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. If you want to skip this step, add about an extra 1/4-1/2 cup of the Kodiak Cakes mix to make a stiffer dough that will spread less. While the dough is chilling, I recommend cooking the cranberries for the buttercream - see below instructions.
6. When ready, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line some baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Scoop cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on prepared cookie sheets a few inches apart.
8. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Cool completely before frosting.

For the cranberry buttercream:

1. Combine the cranberries, lime juice and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the cranberries start popping. Reduce heat to medium-low and let cook until the cranberries are soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and let cool completely before making the frosting. I transferred the cranberry sauce to a glass container and stored in the fridge to cool.
3. Combine the cooled cranberry sauce with the powdered sugar, maple syrup and butter with a mixer until smooth. Add a little milk or more maple syrup if the mixture is too stiff, and add more powdered sugar if it is too thin.
4. Pipe or spread a generous amount of frosting on half of the cooled cookies and top with the remaining cookies.