Salted Caramel Whoopie Pies

I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes, but baking has always been my favorite. It's somewhat therapeutic, and I love finding new delicious treats to whip up. Enter: this recipe. Parker and I spent a weekend in Fredericksburg last summer and became obsessed with the salted caramel ice cream we tried there. When I found a recipe for a salted caramel whoopie pie, I was so hopeful. Have yall ever had a whoopie pie? I had never eaten one much less baked one, but oh. my. gosh. This might be my new favorite dessert, and Parker couldn't stop raving about it. He put this dessert in the top five things I've ever made, and I have to agree. Seriously, I'll stop. Just make this.

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
 2 eggs
1/4 cup water
1 can store bought vanilla frosting
1/2 cup caramel sauce (like the kind you use for ice cream topping)
1/2 Tbsp Kosher or sea salt plus a little more to garnish (don't use table salt- it won't turn out the same. I opted for sea salt)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine cake mix, oil, eggs, and water in a bowl.
3. Drop mixture by 2 Tbsp onto a lined cookie sheet (leave about an inch between each cookie), and bake 9-10 minutes.
4. Cool on pan for 5 minutes. Move to wire rack and cool another 15 minutes.
5. In a medium bowl, stir together frosting, caramel sauce, and salt.
6. Take one cookie and place a Tbsp or so of frosting in the center. Press another cookie on top so that the icing spreads out to the edge.
7. Sprinkle a little more sea salt over the top of your completed whoopie pie for garnish.

I got a little excited and made my cookies a bit larger than the recipe indicated. They were equally delicious, but I'd follow the recipe measurements for a slightly less messy cookie.

Enjoy!