Cake Mix Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting Filling

Let me start by wishing everyone a happy, safe Fourth of July!

I wanted a fun dessert to serve for the Fourth of July, but I needed something easy that didn’t take a lot of oven time.  While I was heating the oven to make some desserts, we had our very own fireworks display.  The heating element in Lane’s electric oven met its end and went out in a blaze of sparks, zapping, and smoke.  Luckily, no one was harmed, nothing was damaged, and it’s an inexpensive thing to fix.  Also luckily, I had access to an apartment nearby with a working oven.

So this is the part where I ask you to excuse that I used cake mix to make whoopie pies.  I was not about to haul flour and baking powder and other necessary supplies to an apartment in the 100 degree heat after having to call Lane at work and tell him “sweetie, you may be getting a call from the alarm company, there’s been a small electrical fire.”  Not happening.  I remembered seeing this trick, so I visited with my pal Google, and sure enough, there was the recipe for the easiest whoopie pies ever. The cream cheese filling is from scratch, so that’s redeeming, right?   Also, I used the patriotic Funfetti cake mix because I thought that would be the most festive, but you could use any flavor you enjoy.  All hiccups aside, these were actually pretty good and it’s a trick I would probably use again in  a pinch.

Cake Mix Whoopie Pies (with Cream Cheese Frosting Filling)

Ingredients:

for the “cookie” part:

• 1 box cake mix (any flavor, I used Funfetti)
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

for the filling:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 C. butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 C. confectioner’s sugar

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, butter, and egg together and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 1-2 minutes.

If using Funfetti cake mix, add the sprinkles and stir them in to combine.

Shape the dough into 1 inch round balls using clean hands and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, they should still be a little soft.

Let the cakes cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely, about half an hour.

To make the filling, combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl and beat on medium speed until combined and smooth.

Spread filling on the bottom half of one-half of the cakes.  Top each frosted half with an un-frosted half, like a sandwich.

Makes about 14 whoopie pies (I had enough filling to fill 28 whoopie pies, you may want to halve the filling recipe unless you like more filling per pie).

Source: cakes from Cake Mix Doctor, filling from Dulce Dough