“Together, we are stronger,” a wise food blogger friend once told us. This is so true. Some of the best food bloggers in the east coast area came together one Sunday afternoon in New York City to do what food enthusiasts do best ~ bake and share. Even better, we did it for a fundraiser event and a worthy cause.
I brought my Choco Rum Whoopies with Dulce de Leche and my Ube- Purple Yam Shortbread, a dozen of each, to the event. I’m sharing with you the recipe to the chocolate cookie sandwich filled with a rich caramel. The Ube-Purple Yam Shortbread has been featured in a previous blog post, but is just as easy to bake.
What makes food bloggers come together for a cookie swap like this one? It is not hard to do. We are used to sharing. We share our recipes, our stories, cooking tips, our food, openly and willingly. And when a non profit organization like “Bloggers Without Borders” puts together a fundraising cookie swap event, we listen and we act on it.
Just like last year’s cookie exchange, the 2012 Holiday Cookie Swap was held at the Hill Country Barbecue in New York City. Elizabeth Karmel and her wonderful staff generously sponsored the best barbecue buffet anyone could ask for. We washed it all down with rounds of bottomless margaritas, Bloody Mary’s, and they sweetened up our brunch with a long table of pies, pastries, plus delightful cupcakes to bring home.
This year, Bloggers Without Borders worked in partnership with New York-based WhyHunger for this fundraiser. To quote BWOB’s Maggy Anderson Keet “ “WhyHunger works to end global poverty and hunger by supporting grassroots solutions that inspire self-reliance and community empowerment. “
Maggy reiterated in her recap of this event “ WhyHunger works with over 8,000 community-based organizations in 15 countries, to find solutions to fight hunger.”
It was fun to bake for a cause like WhyHunger. It was a delight to see familiar faces, old friends from the bloggers and cookbook circles, and meet new ones, all kindred souls in the food world. But most of all, we paused to IMAGINE. Yes, that’s what the WhyHunger giveaway bracelets reminded all of us in this season of giving. “Imagine there’s no hunger” and share what you can with WhyHunger.
Chocolate Rum Whoopies with Dulce de Leche Filling
Equipment
- Large Cookie Sheets
Ingredients
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 whole eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons rum
- 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- To make Dulce de Leche: remove paper labels from the can of condensed milk. Fill a large pot with water, enough to cover the can. Let the water boil, then simmer over medium heat to cook the condensed milk inside the can. Cook for 3 hours. If using a Slow Cooker like I did, cook the can of condensed milk on HIGH settings for 4 hours, with water covering the can. After cooking time, leave the can submerged in the water and let it get to room temperature. Then refrigerate can of caramel condensed milk overnight and set aside till ready to spread as cookie filling.
- To bake the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees to bake the cookies.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, place all the ingredients together : Flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, eggs, corn oil, vanilla and rum. Using a stand mixer, mix all the ingredients till well blended. Batter will get thick and easier to handle by hand.
- Shape the cookie dough into round chocolate balls about 2 inches in diameter. Arrange the cookie dough balls on the cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake at 350 F degrees for 9 to 10 minutes. When cookies are done, cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes.
- Make sure cookies are thoroughly cooled before placing the filling.
- To assemble chocolate cookies : Take the bottom cookie, spread a tablespoon of the caramel dulce de leche (from the cooked condensed milk). Place another cookie on top of the filling to form a chocolate sandwich. Press cookies together. Wrap in plastic and freeze cookies till ready to serve.
Nutrition
Notes on Nutrition: The nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.
Did you like this recipe?I have more Filipino Instant Pot recipes in my newest cookbook Instant Filipino Recipes: My Mother’s Traditional Philippine Cooking in A Multicooker Pot by Elizabeth Ann Besa-Quirino. I also have more classic recipes inspired by my mother’s cooking in my popular cookbook: My Mother’s Philippine Recipes. If you’re learning how to cook Filipino food or a fan of Philippine cuisine, buy my cookbooks and books on Amazon.com sold worldwide in paperback and Kindle format.
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So much fun! Love all the cookies!
Hi Laura, thanks for the kind comments and blog visit. Yes, these choco cookies are terrific & with the dulce de leche, it’s even more decadent! Glad you came by 🙂
Did you say rum? I am soooooo in:-) You know how much I love baking with booze! Your whoopie pies look really delicious, and that caramel has me drooling! Yum, Hugs, Terra
Thanks, Terra. These chocolate whoopies evolved from another recipe. The chocolate rounds with rum were already yummy, but I wanted to elevate the decadence further. A slab of dulce de leche in between did just the trick. Always so nice to have you drop by, my friend! Hugs 🙂