Chocolate Whoopie Pie Recipe

Welcome to Chocolate Whoopie Pie 101: where we perfect these decadent cakey sandwich cookies to be as beautiful as they are tasty.

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Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Whoopie pies are made from two chocolate cakelike cookies that are filled with a buttercream/marshmallow fluff mixture to create a hand-held dessert sandwich – and they are HEAVENLY! It’s basically an Easy Chocolate Cake, without the need for a plate or fork!

In this recipe for the classic treat, you will find a few of my trademark tricks for keeping your cookies ultra soft, incredibly pretty and, of course, delicious.

By way of heads up: the batter/dough used to make whoopie pies is incredibly thick and sticky! This means that most whoopie pies turn out looking a little..frumpy? Uneven? Not anymore! In this recipe, you’ll be instructed to use either a piping bag or cookie scoop to portion out the cookie rounds – leaving your finished whoopie pies even and perfectly baked every time.

To make sure your whoopie pies are as chewy, fluffy, and cakey as possible, this recipe utilizes the science of baking. Instead of opting for the more popular granulated sugar, you’ll find we only use brown sugar to give us an ultra soft cookie for dayssss. More unusually, you’ll also find buttermilk in this recipe – that’s because the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to raise the cookies while baking to give us the perfect cakelike texture #science.

Finally, I know that optics aren’t everything, but there’s nothing I hate more than ruining a delicious whoopie pie with murky buttercream frosting. While regular vanilla extract will definitely do the job, clear vanilla extract will yield a frosting that is bright white – making your whoopie pies LOOK and TASTE professional.

What’s in a Whoopie Pie?

Whoopie Pie Cookie Ingredients:

• Salted butter, partially melted  – I always use salted butter! You can sub unsalted – just add a pinch of salt to the dough. 
• Brown sugar  – Just brown sugar in this recipe because that keeps things nice and soft compared to granulated sugar. 
• Eggs
• vanilla extract – It’s a lot of vanilla but trust me, it really enhances the cocoa! 
• All-purpose flour
• Dutch processed cocoa powder  – I like Ghirardelli brand dutch processed cocoa but you can use whatever cocoa you have on hand.
• Cornstarch – The cornstarch will help the whoopie pies stay nice and cakey. 
• Baking soda
• Salt 
• Buttermilk  – The buttermilk will react with the baking soda to raise the cookies while baking and make it fluffy and cakelike. #science. 

Whoopie Pie Filling

• Salted butter, softened  – Again, salted. 
• Powdered sugar
• Clear vanilla extract – You could use vanilla that isn’t clear in the frosting but the frosting will have an off white look instead of a bright white.
• Heavy whipping cream

How to Make Whoopie Pies

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer, combine the partially melted butter and brown sugar until combined.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing well.
4. Next, add the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda and salt to the bowl. Slowly start mixing. 
5. As the dry ingredients are mixing in, slowly add in the buttermilk.
6. Mix until a thick batter forms.
7. Add the batter to a piping bag. Pipe round circles equal in size onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving room for the cookies to bake and spread. Alternatively you can scoop the batter onto the pan.
8. Bake at 375° F for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies have spread and no longer look wet and underbaked in the center of the cookie.
9. Allow the cookies to cool on the pan.
10. While the cookies are cooling, make the filling.
11. To make the filling, slowly cream the softened butter until smooth. 
12. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Add a splash of heavy cream to the bowl to help incorporate the powdered sugar into the butter.
13. Repeat this process until all 3 cups of powdered sugar have been added. 
14. Next, add in the clear vanilla extract. 
15. Add more heavy cream to thin the filling, if needed. 
16. Add the filling to a piping bag. Pipe the filling onto the bottom of a cooled chocolate cookie and top it with another cookie to create the whoopie pie. Repeat with remaining cookies.
17. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to 1 week in the fridge. 
18. Enjoy!

Chocolate Whoopie Pies Recipe Tips

How do I make neat whoopie pies?

A piping bag is your best friend here! Instead of scooping the batter onto the pan, Add your batter to a piping bag. Pipe round circles equal in size onto your prepared baking sheet, leaving room for the cookies to bake and spread. 

Then, once your cookies are cooled, add your filling to a piping bag and pipe it onto the bottom of one chocolate cookie. Press a second cookie on top to make your whoopie pie!

Whoopie Pie Recipe Filling Variations

A double chocolate whoopie pie would be absolutely to die for! If that sounds like your kind of heaven, try making this brownie frosting instead of vanilla buttercream. Cookie dough frosting would also be unreal!

Chocolate Whoopie Pie Recipe Storage

How long are whoopie pies good for?

Once assembled, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or on the counter for 3 days!

Can you freeze whoopie pies?

These cookies also freeze well and can be stored in a resealable freezer bag for up to 3 months. I have a post all about how to freeze cookies if you’d like more guidance!

If you love this Whoopie Pies Recipe, you’ll love these!

• Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
• Chocolate Cookie Recipe
• Twix Thumbprint Cookies

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