Soft-baked brown butter whoopie pies smeared with chocolate ganache and sandwiched around coconut frosting give these Brown Butter Coconut Chocolate Whoopie Pies a delicious Samoa cookie vibe that is irresistible.

It’s been a busy past couple of weeks for me. I just started school and haven’t gotten a lot of chances to bake with all the homework and sports practices. But when I had to meet with my mentor (every kid at my school is paired with a teacher who is called their “mentor”), it was the perfect opportunity to bake something, because he always likes to get a sample from my latest baking endeavor.

I was mildly concerned he wouldn’t like coconut, because I’ve learned over the years that many people don’t like coconut. I’ve never understood those people. But luckily, my mentor liked these so I won’t have to ask for a new one.

For these Brown Butter Coconut Chocolate Whoopie Pies, I used the same whoopie pie recipe from these Oatmeal Cookie Dough Whoopie Pies, but browned the butter ahead of time and then re-refrigerated it. It worked really well, and it is making me consider alllllll the possibilities of doing the same thing in other things. You’ll be kept posted on any developments.

The flavors in these Brown Butter Coconut Chocolate Whoopie Pies blended really well. They weren’t what I had been imagining, but it was one of those times where what you imagine isn’t as good as what happened.

I was kind of going for the samoa-vibe, but it ended up that the coconut frosting and chocolate dominated the equation and the whoopie pie was a better-than-normal vehicle to enjoy it on.

Does that sound bad?

Because these Brown Butter Coconut Chocolate Whoopie Pies are not bad. They are actually amazing.

-Audrey

Brown Butter Coconut Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Author: Molly
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 1/2 hours
Yield: 12-16 whoopie pies 1x

Ingredients

Brown Butter Whoopie Pies

2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 tbsp butter, browned and refrigerated until hard
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 Tbls milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

Coconut Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache

3/4 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream

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Instructions

Make the whoopie pies:

Brown you butter in a saucepan and move into a bowl and place in the refrigerator and begin the rest of the recipe when it is hardened.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy (approx 3-4 min). Add eggs and buttermilk and beat until combined. (It will look curdled, that is OK.)
In a 1 cup measuring cup combine milk, baking soda, and vinegar. With your mixer on low pour in half of the flour mixture, then the milk, then the rest of the flour. Mix until just combined. Stir in vanilla.
Use a small cookie scoop to drop dough onto baking sheets. Leave about 2 inches between the cookies. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until they are set, and just starting to brown around the edges. Let cool for a few minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

Make the frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
Gradually add the sugar and mix until creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes.
Add in the coconut and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.

Make the ganache:

Put chocolate chips in a small bowl.
Bring cream to a simmer in a small heavy saucepan, then pour warm cream evenly over chocolate.
Let stand for one minute to soften, then stir until smooth.
If ganache is too running to spread, let it sit at room temperature for 10 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, it will continue to thicken as it stands.

Assemble the whoopie pies: