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These Mint Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies are a classic! They feature moist, cakey chocolate cookies and a rich mint chocolate chip buttercream filling! They make a perfect dessert for St. Patrick’s Day or any day of the year you feel like getting lucky.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Are you wearing green? Gleefully pinching friends and strangers alike? Stuffed full of cabbage? Drunk before noon? Reminiscing fondly about the time St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland? What a weird, wonderful holiday this is.
In keeping with this solemn celebration of Ireland’s patron saint, I have made you a green dessert. As one does. These Mint Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies fulfill all your green eatin’ needs, but the also work well throughout the whole year—any day can be a mint chocolate chip day!
These whoopie pies start with two moist, cakey sour cream chocolate cookies. They’re filled with a minty Swiss meringue buttercream that’s so creamy and rich, it tastes like ice cream. I added some very finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate, so that there are flecks of chocolate in every bite. And of course, no St. Patrick’s Day treat would be complete without a glimmer of gold, so I surrounded some of the cookies with a ring of green and gold Sixlets. The Sixlets really make the cookies pop, and I love how they look like a jeweled bracelet around the edge of the cookies.
These cookies made me feel better about being a bit of a St. Patrick’s Day scrooge this year. Asher is too young to appreciate the finer things in life, like green milk and green eggs, so we skipped a lot of my favorite childhood traditions. Also, I’m already planning on having Mexican food for lunch, and I’m pretty sure salsa is not one of the officially condoned St. Patrick’s Day food groups. But I think as long as I get my green food fix with mint chip buttercream, life is good.
If you love this, you won’t want to miss my Shamrock Shake Shots, Pot of Gold St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes and Gold-Topped Rainbow Cake. Have a safe and fun holiday!
Zucchini Whoopie Pies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Gourmet Homemade Oreos
Mint Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cookies:
- 9.5 oz all-purpose flour, (2 ¼ cups)
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 9 1/3 oz brown sugar, (1 1/4 cup), lightly packed
- 3 1/2 oz granulated sugar, (1/2 cup)
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
- 8 oz sour cream, (1 cup), at room temperature
For the Mint Chip Frosting:
- 4 egg whites, at room temperature
- 7 oz granulated sugar, (1 cup)
- 8 oz unsalted butter, softened but still cool
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp mint extract
- Lemon yellow gel food coloring
- leaf green gel food coloring
- 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, (1/2 cup), or semi-sweet chocolate, very finely chopped
For Decoration:
- Lime Green Sixlets, optional
- Gold Sixlets, optional
Instructions
To Make the Cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line three baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
- Combine the butter and both sugars in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until the sugars are mixed and well-moistened, with the texture of wet sand. Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla. Add the melted, cooled chocolate and mix on low speed until combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- With the mixer running on low speed, add a third of the dry ingredients. When those are mixed in, add half of the sour cream, then continue to alternate adding the dry ingredients and sour cream, until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more.
- Scoop 1 1/2-inch balls of batter onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving a few inches between each cookie, as they will spread. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and they spring back lightly when pressed with a finger. Cool on the baking sheets before filling.
To Make the Mint Chip Frosting:
- Combine the egg whites and the granulated sugar in the bowl of a large stand mixer, and whisk them together. Choose a small saucepan that lets you fit the base of the stand mixer snugly into the top of the saucepan—this is your makeshift hot water bath. (Alternately, you can use a different bowl or an actual bain marie and then transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl once it’s heated.) Add an inch of water to the bottom of the saucepan, and bring the water to a simmer.
- Place the mixing bowl on top of the saucepan, making sure that the bottom isn’t in contact with the water, and heat the egg white mixture. Whisk frequently so that the egg whites don’t cook. Continue to heat the whites until they are hot to the touch, and when you rub a bit between your fingers, you don’t feel any grittiness from the sugar. Once the whites are hot, transfer the mixing bowl to your mixer and fit it with a whisk attachment.
- Beat the whites on medium-high speed until they are no longer warm to the touch—feel the outside of the bowl, and make sure that it is around room temperature. Depending on your mixer and the temperature of your environment, this may take 10-15 minutes, or more. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the softened but cool butter in small chunks, a tablespoon at a time, making sure to wait in between additions. It may separate or look a little gloopy at this point—fear not. Once all of the butter is added, increase the speed again and whip until it comes together and is light and fluffy. If, after 5 minutes, it hasn’t come together, refrigerate the mixing bowl for 5-7 minutes, to cool the mixture down, and whip it again.
- Add the salt, mint extract, and a few drops of yellow and green food coloring, mixing until you have a nice minty green color. Finally, add the finely chopped chocolate and stir it in with a spatula. The buttercream can be made in advance and kept at room temperature if you’re going to use it the same day, or refrigerated. If it has been chilled, let it sit at room temperature until it softens, then re-whip it to get the fluffy texture back before you use it.
- To assemble the whoopie pies, fit a pastry bag with a large star attachment. Pipe a swirl of frosting on half of the cookies, leaving a small margin at the edges. Top the cookies with a second cookie, pressing down slightly so the frosting extends to the edge. If desired, press sixlets into the frosting around the edge.
Recipe Notes
MEASURING TIPS
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Click here to learn more about baking measurements and conversion.Nutrition
ST. PATRICK’S DAY DESSERTS 🍀
We’ve rounded up 23 of our FAVORITE rainbow dessert recipes & ideas that are sure to make you smile — click here to get all the recipes!
“Any day can be a mint chocolate chip day” – Amen, Sister!
Preach, Sara!
My children would eat these ANY day of the year, but they’re a fantastic St. Patrick’s Day treat!!! Gorgeous!
Your children and I apparently have a lot in common. 🙂 Thanks Liz!
Gorgeous. I love whoopie pies and mint chocolate. Perfect!
Thanks Norma, me too!
If these taste even half as good as they look they will be amazing! Love the jewels; your food styling makes me drool!!
Lisa, you are so sweet! Thanks so much! I’m a little addicted to decorating with Sixlets–it’s an easy way to add a little bling. 🙂
Mint + chocolate = delicious
These look perfect!
Thanks Chloe, I agree with that math!
Oh my goodness – these look so good!! I especially love that last photo! Love the mint chip frosting…
Thanks Ashley! I’m such sucker for mint chip anything, I kind of want to turn every dessert into something mint chippy. 🙂
Love these mint choc chip whoopie pies.. you know I´ve never made whoopie pies :-/ Now I´m wondering why.. haha
ps. The jewels are so cute!!
Xx
Ha, I think it’s time you and whoopie pies become better friends!
Chocolate cookies+ minty cream.. that sound fantastic! And they look so cute 🙂
Thanks, Medeja! They were aaalllmost too cute to eat. 🙂
Yay for Whoopie Pies! They are my new favorite thing and I am loving this Mint Chip version. Looks perfect!!
Thanks Kathi! I don’t make them that often, but every time I do, I wonder why I wait so long in between. They’re basically a cupcake in a different form–what’s not to love?
ARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH im gonnna get fat!!!!
Haha, sorry to be part of the problem and not part of the solution, Laura. 😉
Haha…think I’ll just make some…and feed them on someone else instead!! ;D
These are the most beautiful whoopie pies ever! Decorating them with sixlets really takes them over the top 😀
Thanks–I think there are lots of Sixlets in my future. They’re the easiest quick-fancy trick I know!
the frosting sounds wonderful. they look great!
Thanks Dina! I kind of want to put mint chip frosting on everything now. 🙂
Girl, I was such a St. Paddy’s scrooge this year that I not only wore only black & grey on Monday, but proceeded to wear green the NEXT day. I’m the worst. And I don’t even remember what I had for lunch, but it was definitely not corned beef.
These are gooorgeous and I neva meant to talk smack about whoopie pies, friend. Erin Go Whoopie! I would down four of these before noon–you know how I feel about mint and chocolate.
Look at you, sticking it to the St. Paddy’s man! I like your contrary style. I knew you meant no harm, it’s all in good fun. Heaven knows I’ve talked smack about my fair share of foodstuffs!
Hey!! I love those laughing whoopie pies!! Wish to finish of the entire whoopies by myself!!
Thanks Suja!
Oh ya! Love mint and chocolate together and these look deeeeelicious. 🙂
Thank you Tina! Great minds obviously think alike. 🙂
These whoopie pies are so festive! I made mint chocolate chip whoopie pies once, but they were just plain old pies. I love the way you decorated these with sixlets! 🙂
Thanks Beth! I’m pretty sure I’m going to Sixlet all my desserts from now on, it’s the lazy person’s way to add sparkle and class without actually doing any work!
Buttercream which tastes like ice-cream? You sold me with this one – it sounds amazing! And these whoopie pies look adorable. I really like those sprinkles you used.
Enjoy your weekend! xx
Thanks Consuelo! Buttercream and ice cream…two great tastes that taste great together. 🙂 Have a great weekend yourself!
I am in love with what you created here!! Seriously, I could eat more of these than I’d like to admit! 😉
Shush, Jocelyn, it’s our little secret. What happens between us and whoopie pies stays between us and whoopie pies. 🙂
Mint + chocolate + whoopie pies?! SOLD! Yum!
Thanks Amanda! Couldn’t have said it better myself!
These are adorable! Love me some mint chocolate chip. Pinned.
Haha, me too, Jennie! Thanks for the Pinterest love!
Oh my, I always have an immense sugar craving after looking at your blog recipes! The combination of mint and chocolate in a whoopie pie sounds incredible…
I’m sure these are absolutely fabulous! I love mint. Pinning.