Candy Cane Whoopie Pies

The first week of December is always very exciting in our house, not only does it mean the onset of Christmas but it also means the Toy Run. The Toy Run is where thousands of bikes, laden with toys, ride together into the city where we fill up the waiting Salvation Army trucks, have a drink and just revel in the fact that the entire waterfront is just full of bikes as far as the eye can see....and anyone who rides a bike will know the sound of all those bikes thundering down the highway is incredible...but what I love the most? All the people that come out and line the streets, the excited kids, the families, the oldies, it just attracts everyone and being a part of it is the best feeling. Hopefully next year I will be confident and experienced enough to take my own bike :)


This year we were treated to an air show by 6 jets whilst we were down at the waterfront.


Dad's bike, my Uncle's new bike and OH's bike


OH and I ready for a drink in the sun and a sticky beak at all the bikes!

The onset of Christmas to me means Christmas trees and decorations and lots of time with family and friends....but it also means christmas baking! My head is filled with ideas involving marshmallows and gingerbread and reindeer and holly sprigs...but at the top of my list??

These Candy Cane Whoopie Pies!


For the whoopie pies I used the Classic Chocolate Whoopie recipe from Amy Treadwell's Whoopie Pie cookbook, although I halved it, and I also adapted the Mint Buttercream recipe from that book as well.

Classic Chocolate Whoopies

Just under 1 cup of plain flour (about .8 or .9 of a cup)
1/3 cup cocoa
.75 tspn baking soda
1/4 tspn salt
4 tbspns butter melted
.5 cup sugar
1 egg
.5 cup milk

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth.

If the mixture seems too thin, let it sit for a few mins and it will thicken up.

Heat the oven to 180C and spray 2 x baking trays or whoopie pie trays with cooking spray.

Drop tbspns of the batter onto trays about 3-4cms apart. Place the trays in the oven, one at a time for 10 mins or until they spring back when lightly touched.

Allow the cakes to cool before filling.

Candy Cane Buttercream

2 cups icing sugar
125g butter
1 tspn peppermint essence
1/2 tspn strawberry essence
1-2 drops pink food colouring (you might not need this if your strawberry essence is pink)
12 long candy canes

Combine everything except the candy canes in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat well. The buttercream should be nice and thick. The best way to check it is to get a tablespoon full and hold it upside down, if it holds its shape and stays on the spoon it's good! Set the frosting aside.

Carefully snap the top ends off your candy canes to creat 12 mini candy canes. Set these aside.

Put the remaining candy cane ends in a freezer bag (I suggest double bagging), take them outside and bash them with a mallet until they are nice and crushed.


Now for the assembly!

Take 1 of your whoopie pies and place a good tablespoon of filling in the centre. Top with another whoopie pie and squeeze the two gently together to push the filling out to the sides. Now roll the edges in the crushed candy cane. Place about 1/4 tspn of filling on top of the whoopie pie and push one of the mini candy canes into it. Repeat with remaining whoopie pies and filling.


These just look so cute!! And they taste amazing...believe me, we struggled not to eat all the filling while the whoopie pies were cooling down!!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Em x