My chocolate whoopie pies got a xmas make-over, peeps, and suffice is to say my ten-year old taste tester went kind of berserk. And I mean that in the best way. Chocolate and peppermint are his favorite flavor combo, candy canes one of his favorite candies, these particular peppermint Newman O’s, his favorite store-bought cookie, and the peppermint chocolate icebox cake from the book Icebox Cakes, his favorite cake. (Full disclosure: his mom wrote said book and he’s likely a tad biased).
I first made these for an adults-only pre-xmas xmas party and said taste-tester was not happy. At my husband’s insistence, I generously, okay reluctantly, shared one with him on my way out the door, and promised I’d be making them again some time soon. I had tons of leftover mint buttercream filling and so keeping my promise proved to be easy. I made them again exclusively for the taste-tester and his brother, and then again for the kids who trashed our basement/attended our New Year’s Eve party. 
And each time I have made them, be it for adults or kids or basement-trashers, the pies have been consumed with much enthusiasm. We always made peppermint chocolate whoopie pies around the holidays at baked, and I don’t know why it has taken me this long to incorporate the treat into my own holiday baking regime. But i’m on board now and here’s why you should be too: 
The cookies are fast and easy to make. The buttercream is a breeze, and people (at least the people I hang with) go berserk for them. Moreover, you can freeze the pre-filled cookies and refrigerate the buttercream kind of indefinitely (sorry food-safety police, but I think i’m right), ensuring you have whoopie pies at a moment’s notice (provided you bring your buttercream to room-temp prior to assembly). AND — even better — you can assemble and decorate these suckers and then freeze them, so that they are ready to pull out and serve LITERALLY whenever you so desire. I love a do-ahead dessert — always have and always will. And I love a whoopie pie almost more. In short, there’s a lot of love surrounding these pies and I suggest that you get right in there with me, and enjoy some of it.
[yumprint-recipe id=’81’]
