My younger sister who looks much old than me emailed the other day and said she had just made the most delicious cookies and that's all she wrote! After a few days of pleading she finally sent me her recipe for Root Beer Cookies. She said they were "most excellent" and I would have to agree...but, just like my Baked Root Beer Beans, I wanted more Root Beer flavor in the cookies...and so I did a bit of experimenting and I think I improved on her recipe, she who looks much older than me.
Root Beer Concentrate, I'm told, is hard to find in grocery stores, unless you're in a specialty store, but you can order it on line. I've had a large bottle of Root Beer Concentrate for a while now so I haven't had to go looking for it. At first bite, these cookies will taste caramel-y, but then, after the 2nd or 3rd bite, you'll realize the taste is deeper, richer...Root Beer-i-er!
You can eat the cookies plain, they'll taste just fine and dandy, or you can frost them with the Root Beer Frosting recipe below (seriously good) or you can put frosting in between two cookies (eating two cookies at one time is so much more sophisticated than eating just one!) or better still, you can put a Root Beer flavored marshmallow cream filling in between two cookies and you'll have yourself Root Beer Whoopie Pies!! A party in your mouth - guarandamteed! 5 dangs my friends, bang the ol' meter 5 times and put me to bed - this one's a keeper!
Root Beer Whoopie Pies - Adapted from Joni Geurts, Adopted Younger Sister of Yours Truly
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon root beer extract or concentrate
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Root Beer Frosting:
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract or concentrate
Root Beer Marshmallow Filling:
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup cold water, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light-colored corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Root Beer extract or concentrate
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, add buttermilk and root beer extract, beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to the bowl, mixing until just combined. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until slightly browned. Cool on wire rack until completely cool before frosting or filling.
If you are just going to frost the cookie, make the frosting: In bowl of electric mixer combine all of the frosting ingredients and beat on high for 5 minutes until smooth. Apply frosting to the tops of cookies.
If Making Whoopie Pies, prepare the filling: Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water in a large, deep bowl; set aside. Combine remaining 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, syrup and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 244 degrees. Remove from heat and stir in root beer extract. Gradually pour hot sugar syrup into softened gelatin mixture; beating with a mixer on low speed then at high speed until thick. (This will take about 6 minutes if you are using a deep, narrow bowl so the beaters get more of the mixture, if your beaters are not at least half-way down into the mixture it will take longer.) You'll want the consistency of the filling to be able to form soft peaks.
To assemble cookies; quickly spread about 2 tablespoons filling over bottom side of a cookie and top with another cookie. (As the filling continues to cool it will firm up very quickly.) Repeat procedure with remaining filling and cookies.)