Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

It's Valentine's week, bitches! Look alive! This week is dedicated to filling my face with sweets, and no one can stop me. No. One. On the list of must haves, of course, is red velvet. I made these in the form of whoopie pies because, you know, Valentine's day... I'm a child. Anyway, this recipe will make about 15 whoopie pies depending on how big you make them (that's 30 ish cookies- they're sandwiched together).

For the whoopies:
1 c unsalted butter, room temp
1 c granulated sugar
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/8 c cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp white vinegar
Red food coloring *if you have the liquid kind, use that. I did not; I had gel, and it was hard getting a color that I found suitable for these.

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set to the side (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt).
3. In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. At this point, I added my food coloring. You might be able to get away with adding it later if it's liquid, but not with gel. The first time I made these, I added the food coloring at the end (again, gel, not liquid), and the color was this:

Not quite the red velvet I was going for....

4. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing to combine.
5. Add in vanilla and vinegar to the mixture.
6. Slowly add in the dry ingredients.
7. Allow to firm up in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before scooping onto a baking sheet and baking for 10 - 12 minutes.

*If you're not baking them all at once, put dough back in the fridge so that it doesn't get too soft. If you don't some of the cookies lose their shape, like this:

8. Allow to cool completely before filling with the frosting.

For the filling:
4 oz (half a stick) unsalted butter, room temp
4 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c powdered sugar
Milk for thinning (optional)

1. Cream together butter and cream cheese.
2. Slowly incorporate powdered sugar.
3. Add vanilla, and if needed, a splash or two of milk. I did use the milk both times I've made these.
4. Fill up a piping bag or ziploc bag and cut a big hole so that you can pipe the frosting onto one cookie. Squish another cookie on top just until the frosting almost reaches the sides.