Classic Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Two saucer-shaped rounds of chocolate cake sandwiched around a marshmallow-y cream filling: that's the classic whoopie pie. Originally popular in New England and around Amish country, the whoopie pie has gradually been spreading throughout America, and for good reason: it's a delicious throwback to the days before everyone started counting calories or fat grams. Consider these an occasional decadent treat.
Read our blog about these whoopie pies, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.
Cakes
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
- 2 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup milk
Filling
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar
- 1 1/3 cups Marshmallow Fluff or marshmallow creme
- 1/4 teaspoon salt dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
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1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. |
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10) Yield: 8 large whoopie pies (about 4" dia., about 5 ounces each). To make smaller pies, see tips at right. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 20 mins. to 30 mins.
- Baking time:
- 15 mins. to 16 mins.
- Total time:
- 55 mins. to 1 hrs 6 mins.
- Yield:
- 8 large or 16 small pies
- Recipe comments (19) »
Tips from our bakers
- To make 16 smaller whoopie pies (about 2 3/4" dia., about 2 1/2 ounces each): drop the dough onto the baking sheets in 30g balls, about the size of a large ping pong ball, or about 1 1/4". Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, till set. Finish as directed in the recipe.
- Marshmallow Fluff is a New England ingredient available in certain other parts of the country. Marshmallow creme, more widely available, is a thinner consistency than Fluff. If you make your filling with marshmallow creme, you may need to add a bit more sugar to stiffen it up sufficiently.
Reviews
10/26/2009
I had never made whoopie pies before. The whoopie pie tasted very good. The recipe was very easy to follow. I already had all the ingredients in my pantry. My grandkids loved them. I can't wait to make whoopie pie spiders for my grandkids halloween party.
10/17/2009
I like this recipe much better than many others I've tried! (Even better than the other one on your site like it "Whoopie Pies.") For those who are freaked out by the use of shortening (and really -- if you're making Whoopie Pies, were you expecting something light???) I would suggest you substitute vegan butter. It behaves very much like shortening in baking, but it's animal- and trans-fat FREE.
07/31/2009
it was exelent.But the cream was not that good.i loved the chocolate woopie pies.i am going to rob you tonight.
07/31/2009
would be better warm
07/29/2009
The best! I ended up with 20 mini pies instead of 16, but they were still a very generous size. Everyone enjoyed them!
07/04/2009
Loved this recipe. It was easy to make, a nice rich chocolate flavor. (For those omitting the espresso powder - the purpose is that it gives a depth to the chocolate and just makes it a tad more chocolaty in flavor). I loved that it wasn't sickeningly sweet, which I was worried about when I started looking at recipes, and it was easy to make - no cooking of the filling or having to worry about getting egg whites to the right consistency like some other recipes I'd seen.
06/29/2009
I tried these and I was so hoping they would be good! My family loves the whoopie pies but we can only get them in Pa (an 45 minute drive). I made these and they were thin, not like the pictures. I omitted the espresso powder, but I was wondering if maybe what I bought wasn't dutch coca? It was a dark cocoa but I am not sure if it was dutch process...would that have made them come out thinner? I followed the recipe and I am pretty sure it was new baking soda and baking powder. We all loved the filling, but the cake part wasn't very good at all. It took some more flour and more baking soda to get them to come out not too flat and I had to make them small. Any advice or tips?
Hi Rachel, if the cocoa you were using was not Dutched cocoa, you might not get quite the lift, because the acidity is different for regular cocoa. The label on the product will clearly state if it is Dutch Processed, so if it doesn't, you would need a different cocoa. MJR @ KAF
06/10/2009
Hi - I am new to this site and started recieving this when i signed up for the Bake2Share program and brought these into work. They were a hit with my wife and a hit with my coworkers. I had these when I was visiting PA about 10 years agoe but never got back. While the shortening was a bit frightening, it was pretty good! Thanks for the recipes and I have become a FAN of KAF!
06/10/2009
Wonderful! The cakes had a nice chocolate flavor without being overly sweet - unlike the awful whoopie pies of my childhood. The only thing I changed is the filling. I'm not a fan of marshmallow fluff, so I substituted a whipped cream filling, and they were amazing.
06/09/2009
I made the chocolate whoopie pies using the filling for the King Arthur recipe " A Devil of a Cake ". The filling for the cake is much the same, but uses 1/4 c. shortening and 1/4 c. of butter with 2 cups powdered sugar. It's really yummy.Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
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