Whoopie Pies

If you have ever been to the East Coast, especially Maine, I'm sure you've at least heard of whoopie pies. You’ll also find them throughout Pennsylvania as they are a traditional Amish dessert. It’s unclear who gets to call dibs on the whoopie pie, but either way, I’m glad they exist. The iconic dessert is essentially a cake sandwich. For a traditional whoopie pie, you’ll find a marshmallow buttercream sandwiched between two soft, chocolate discs of cake. A properly filled whoopie pie should squish out its buttercream with each bite, but it's absolutely worth the sweet mess it creates.

How To Make Whoopie Pies

INGREDIENTS

Cakes

• Cocoa: I almost always reach for Dutch processed cocoa powder. It’s richer, darker, and will make your chocolate baked goods taste more like chocolate. A regular unsweetened cocoa powder can be used instead if it’s what you have on hand.
• Hot Water: This helps create a smoother, shinier cake.
• Butter: Butter is important for flavor. Room temperature is key. It shouldn’t be cold or your batter will come out lumpy and bake uneven.
• Oil: Using both oil and butter ensures whoopie pies that are super moist and stay soft for longer than just butter.
• Sugar: Brown sugar gives a softer, moister cake. White sugar will help crisp up edges of baked goods, but I didn’t want that for this recipe, so all brown sugar is best. I typically use light, but dark brown sugar can be used here too if you have it.
• Large Eggs, Room Temperature: Large eggs are most common is American baking. These are an easy size to find across all grocery stores and what I always test my recipes with.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla gives an extra depth of flavor to baked goods. It won’t ruin the recipe if you skip it, but I’ll always recommend it.
• All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour is a happy medium in the world of flour. It gives a delicate crumb to cakes without making them tough at all. Cake flour is mostly used for cakes that should be extremely light and airy, such as angel food cake or chantilly cake.
• Baking Powder/Baking Soda: Baking powder and baking soda are both important and cannot be used interchangeably. Baking powder will help your whoopie pies rise and also lightens them, making the cake softer. Baking soda will also aid in the rise, but also causes them to spread. This will keep your whoopie pies from being overly domed and puck like.
• Whole Milk: Using whole milk adds extra fat, protein, and sugar. This helps make your cakes richer and softer.
• Kosher Salt: Salt is important in baking just the same as cooking. Your whoopie pies won’t taste salty at all, but it will help bring out the natural flavor of all of your ingredients.

Filling

• Confectioners' Sugar: Adding this to the marshmallow fluff is what turns it into a sweet, spreadable filling.
• Marshmallow Fluff: Because Marshmallow Fluff has a thicker texture, you're going to want to opt for that instead of marshmallow creme.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

For most baked goods, you want to start by mixing your dry ingredients together and whoopie pies are no different. Whisk them together well to ensure you won’t end up with a clump of baking powder in one of your whoopie pies.

Next, beat the butter, oil, and sugar together. You can use a stand mixer or hand mixer for this. Beat for about 2 minutes. It should look creamy and will lighten color. Beating your butter properly will aerate it and help give structure to your cakes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again making sure the egg gets beaten in well and fully distributed throughout the butter mixture.

Add the dry ingredients and only beat until mostly incorporated. This should take less than 1 minute. A few dry streaks are good and will help ensure you aren’t over-beating the batter. An over-beaten batter will come out tough and dry.

Add the milk and warm water and, again, only beat until just combined, less than 1 minute. There shouldn’t be any dry streaks, just a smooth, loose batter.

Use a large cookie scoop to scoop out the batter. Using a cookie scoop will help give you perfectly round discs. If you don’t have one, use a 1/4-cup measuring cup instead, filling it only 3/4 full each time. Be sure to give 3" between each scoop to leave room for them to spread.

Bake at 350° for only 10 to 12 minutes. The whoopie pies will rise and and the edges should feel set while the centers will feel just slightly soft. A tester should come out clean in the center as well. They will continue to bake after they come out so you don’t want to bake them for too long. Let the cakes cool completely before removing them from the parchment. They are too fragile when they are still warm.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and confectioner's sugar together. Make sure your butter isn’t too warm or your frosting will feel melty. Room temperature is perfect. It should require a little push to press into the butter. If your finger can easily press into it with no give, it’s too warm. Add the Marshmallow Fluff and vanilla and beat again until your buttercream is smooth and the fluff is well incorporated.

When your cakes are completely cool, you can assemble the whoopie pie. Flip half of the discs over and use the same cookie scoop to scoop out the frosting and place on the flipped discs.

Top with a second half and gently press down until the buttercream almost reaches the edge.

Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• Who made the original whoopie pie? It’s unclear who created the original whoopie pie. The debate is between Maine and the Amish in Pennsylvania and goes back decades. Both hold the dessert dearly. and Maine has gone as far as to declare them their official state treat.
• What’s the traditional filling for whoopie pies? A traditional whoopie pie is made of chocolate cake and filled with a marshmallow buttercream. The marshmallow flavor added to a buttercream-inspired filling makes it a little extra sweet and incredibly good.
• What else are whoopie pies called? You might know whoopie pies by their alternative names: black moons or gobs. Black moons isn’t as common anymore, but earlier on in their existence, you would have heard them often called black moons, while gobs is more common in Pennsylvania.

Storage

Whoopie pies can be made up to 3 days ahead. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator. I like to keep them in the refrigerator to make sure the filling doesn’t get too warm.

The cakes can also be made a day ahead and once cooled, stored in airtight container and filled the next day.