The Best Whoopie Pie Recipe

My Classic Whoopie Pies feature fluffy, moist cocoa cakes sandwiched together with a creamy marshmallow fluff filling. Quick and easy chocolaty dessert recipe that everyone will love.

Taste: The cocoa cakes and marshmallow filling just remind you of childhood and the feeling of being so thrilled to have dessert.

Ease: As long as you have an electric mixer of some sort (stand or hand-held) this recipe is relatively easy. It does dirty a few dishes.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Would I make this again? These would be great for so many occasions and I plan to get creative with the filling flavors!

This recipe was originally posted in 2012 and desperately needed some recipe updates and new photos. Basically, a total makeover. So we went to work tweaking the recipe. By the end of the week I had SO many Whoopie Pies at the house… more than we could ever actually eat.

Joe and I took them to our friends house to share. Before we even made it to the back patio where everyone was hanging out, their two kids both had a Whoopie Pie in each hand and were chowing down. If you make this recipe… you might also want to double down on the Whoopie Pies!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

Usually I don’t like things that have a more cakey texture. I prefer my cookies to be chewy and my brownies to be fudgy.

They’re slightly chewy around the edges but soft and cakey throughout. Not to mention each ‘pie’ is filled high with luscious marshmallow fluff frosting.

Despite the name, Whoopie Pies aren’t pies at all! The base is neither cake nor cookie. The texture is somewhere between the two. I fill mine with a marshmallow creme frosting, but you could also use buttercream or a cream cheese frosting.

Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies Recipe

Originally created in either New England or Pennsylvania (the origins are unclear), they are also known as ‘gobs.’ The store-bought varieties are often dry and overly sweet… much better to make them from scratch!

I recommend using Dutch-process cocoa because it provides a deep color, more moisture, and a flavor that I think complements the marshmallow filling perfectly. But why am I using Dutch-process cocoa with baking soda for this recipe? Shouldn’t it be baking powder?

Dutch-process cocoa has more fat than most grocery store natural/unsweetened cocoa powder products, which is what we want for flavor and moisture in this specific recipe. The buttermilk in this recipe activates the baking soda. However, if you must use natural cocoa powder go ahead. Just note your Whoopie Pies may be lighter in color and slightly dryer in texture. You can learn more about the differences between cocoa powders here.

Peppermint Bark Whoopie Pies

You can typically find Dutch-process cocoa at your local grocery store or many gourmet food stores like Whole Foods, Sur la Table, Williams Sonoma, or Penzeys. I actually order a big container on Amazon because it’s such a great value!

Buttermilk works best in this recipe to provide rich and tender ‘cakes.’ We need it not only for flavor and moisture, but to help the leavening action by activating the baking soda. I would not recommend using a buttermilk substitute. You can learn more about the science of buttermilk, and see baked goods made with buttermilk substitutes, in my Buttermilk 101 article.

This Whoopie Pie batter is similar in consistency to a very thick cake batter. My favorite way to portion these out is to use my medium cookie scoop (1.5 tablespoons), which not only creates perfectly consistent Whoopie Pies that bake evenly, but it also makes quick work of portioning out the batter/dough. The same scoop also makes easy work of adding the marshmallow creme filling, but if you prefer, you can pipe it on to half the Whoopie Pies using a disposable piping bag and a large round tip, before sandwiching with the other half of the Whoopie Pies.

Old Fashioned Whoopie Pies Recipe: How To Make It

If your mounds of batter are misshapen, your ‘pies’ will not bake up as evenly round. Use a spoon to re-shape the batter into more even circles before baking if you want them to be picture perfect!

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a day, or in the fridge for up to 4 days. If transporting, chill the whoopie pies in the fridge for at least an hour before transporting, as refrigeration makes them firmer and less fragile. Serve Whoopie Pies chilled for a deliciously fudgy texture.

Yes! I recommend placing the Whoopie Pies on a baking sheet in a single layer and freezing for an hour or so, until just solid enough to prevent them from sticking together. Then, simply place in a ziptop bag or an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw for a few hours or overnight in the fridge or at room temperature (either is fine) before serving.

Whoopie Pies With Whipped Marshmallow Filling Recipe

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I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I’m a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!).This nostalgic dessert is an easy and classic whoopie pie recipe made of soft, moist chocolate round cakes sandwiched with a sweet, creamy, fluffy filling. Tastes just like the ones we ate as kids!

A whoopie pie is a classic New England dessert that consists of two soft chocolate cake-like cookies sandwiched with fluffy, marshmallow filling. Traditionally, they are filled with a marshmallow filling, but different kinds of buttercream may also be used in some recipes. They’re delightfully fun to eat and oh so decadent. You can find recipes with other cake flavors, too, like vanilla and even pumpkin! The batter is soft, something between a cake batter and a cookie dough, and the texture of the cake is tender.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Whoopie pies are a New England classic and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. Packaged whoopie pies have been on the market since 1925. Today, you can find them sold in supermarkets and convenience stores all over the US. There’s a reason why this classic sandwich dessert lives in–they’re not only nostalgic, but they’re delicious! Especially when you make them yourself.

I’ve tried several different recipes for homemade whoopie pies, and my favorite is the classic, traditional one. The cake rounds are seriously chocolatey because they have a high percentage of cocoa powder in them. They’re tender and absolutely delicious.

The batter will be quite sticky and soft, but you don’t need to worry about it spreading too much during baking because it has enough baking soda to provide lift and enough flour to stay intact.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Recipe

I usea medium ice cream scoop to scoop out the batter. It’s less messy and makes life easier. It also keeps the cookies uniform and even in size. It’s a great standard size and I use it for most my cookies.

You can use a whoopie pie pan if you find it easier to shape the cookies, but if you’re comfortable with baking cookies, you can make them without it.

Both unsweetened natural cocoa powder and Dutch-process work well here, so whichever you prefer or have on hand will work in this recipe.

Stef's Whoopie Pies With Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe

You know how I like everything to be perfect, right? I couldn’t choose just one filling, so I’m going to give you 4 options to choose from. The filling used in the recipe is a marshmallow filling, which is classic and made easy with a marshmallow cream such as Marshmallow Fluff. If you don’t have this ingredient on hand, or prefer a different filling, I have 3 more options! All of them are delicious and usually found in classic chocolate whoopie pie recipes.