If you’re not familiar with whoopie pies, they’re delicious hand-held treats that hail from the Northeast. Whoopie pies consist of two soft rounds of cake-like cookies, sandwiched with creamy icing in the middle. When I first made whoopie pies at home, I didn’t anticipate liking them as much as I did! I’m generally not a huge fan of soft cake-like cookies, but these pumpkin spice whoopie pies are SO moist, and definitely more like cake than a cookie, but also not totally cake-cake, if that makes any sense. This combination of spiced pumpkin and creamy cream cheese filling is divine and these are now one of our favorite fall treats! The recipe comes from a great cook book, Baked, New Frontiers in Baking.
Ingredient List
These delicious pumpkin whoopie pies require standard baking ingredients, but here’s a few things of note:
- Pumpkin Puree – you’ll need 3 cups of pure pumpkin puree (make sure you’re not buying canned pie filling). Two standard 15oz cans or one large 28oz can will give you enough, plus just a bit extra to make yourself this milkshake 🙂
- Dark Brown Sugar – dark brown sugar gives extra depth of flavor here. I recommend it, but you could certainly use light brown sugar if that’s what you have.
- Cream Cheese – I recommend full-fat, or reduced fat cream cheese. Avoid fat free cream cheese.
- Butter – unless you have a dietary restriction, use real butter, not margarine or butter alternative.
Instructions
You’ll make your cute little cakes first, and when they’re completely cooled, you can fill them with the filling.
- Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Beat wet ingredients in a stand mixer.
- Add the dry ingredients to finish the batter.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion our little circles of batter and bake!
- Optional- I like to use a spatula and gently tap down the tops of half of the cookies. I find that tapping down the “dome” just a bit helps them to sit flat and not roll!
- After the cakes cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes, transfer them to a rack to cool.
- When completely cool, flip over half the cakes, whip up a cream cheese filling, and sandwich the cookies together!
These have an incredibly soft, rich texture and flavor. There is nothing bland about these. The cakes are light and so, so soft, yet dense and flavorful at the same time.
A note on whoopie pie sizing
Before scooping out your cookies, you might wish to experiment with portions. A standard #30 or #40 cookie scoop will portion about about 1.5-2 tablespoons of batter. These are small, but sizable whoopie pies, suitable for most! I also made some extra large ones, mostly for efficiency haha. I got tired of scooping and baking batter so we made some with about 4 tablespoons batter and they were huge and awesome. If I were making these for a bake sale, or as a special gift for someone, I would totally make big ones. If I was making these for a dessert tray or party, I’d do small ones. here’s a comparison:
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make these ahead of time or freeze these pumpkin whoopie pies? Freeze cakes in a single layer and then stack in an airtight container between layers of parchment. Thaw at room temp and then frost. I’ve never frozen them frosted, but I think that would work just fine as well.
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Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: about 30 small/med
Description
Soft pumpkin spiced cake rounds sandwiched with cream cheese filling. Divine!
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup oil
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 cups pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
Cream Cheese Filling
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temp or slightly chilled
1 8-oz. package cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
optional: 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together the brown sugar, white sugar, and oil.
- Add the pumpkin puree and mix well.
- Add the vanilla and eggs and mix well.
- Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Using a cookie scoop or 1 tablespoon measure, drop the batter onto the baking sheet, leaving 1-2 inches between the batter. Try to keep the batter as circular as possible.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes or until the tops are done and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean or with just moist crumbs attached.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for a couple minutes on the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before frosting.
- To prepare the filling, beat the butter on high for 1-2 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and extract, and beat until combined. Transfer to a large Ziploc bag and cut 1/2″-1″ off the corner.
- Flip half of the cakes over on a flat surface and divide batter between them. Sandwich halves together.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 30
- Method: Oven Baked
Questions & Reviews
I have not been able to get into the whole whoopie pie craze since moving to Pennsylvania. They are extremely popular here but have been ho-hum taste wise and not worth wasting my calories. That being said I think this is an actual whoopie pie I would enjoy. Definitely trying this recipe soon. 🙂
This was my first time ever at making Whoopie pies..I had some extra pumpkin filling on hand and decided to try this recipe. I did each step as instructed and I happy to say they turned out awesome. Will definitely make theme again. An instant favorite in my house!
I just made these and they delicious!!!!I started out making them small but after the first few batches I decided to make them bigger. I absolutely love them!!!