As hinted in my post earlier this week (Haven’t read it yet? Check it out: Oatmeal Cream Pies) I’m continuing my theme of cream-filled desserts with one of my all-time favorites: Whoopie pies.
Whoopie pies are one of the many Pennsylvania sweet treats I hold near and dear to my heart, but they are largely unheard of outside of the northeastern United States. Also dubbed “moon pies” or “gobs”, whoopie pies have roots in the Pennsylvania Amish & Dutch and are a great alternative to cupcakes for a single-serving dessert.
Working in a Pennsylvania bakery for 6 years, I must have cut, filled and packaged at least 5,000 whoopie pies of every flavor and every filling. Pumpkin, red velvet, chocolate with cream cheese, peanut butter, coconut marshmallow cream – you name it, we made it. That’s the beauty of whoopie pies: the cake/cream can be any flavor combination you desire, just maintain the classic whoopie pie shape and make the cream with marshmallow fluff and you can call it a whoopie pie!
My favorite variation is a classic: chocolate with peanut butter marshmallow cream filling. If you’re making these for a group and want to offer multiple choices, my recommendation is to section off half of the marshmallow cream to keep plain, blending in peanut butter to the remaining filling for this dynamic flavor combo.
I’d love to hear from you if you make these whoopies – leave a comment below to tell me how they turn out! Happy baking!
Ingredients
Cakes:
- 2 c. all-purpose flour
- ½ c. cocoa powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 c. buttermilk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ c. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 c. packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
Marshmallow cream:
- ½ c. vegetable shortening (Crisco original shortening)
- ½ c. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¼ c. peanut butter (I use Jif Peanut Butter)
- 2 c. powdered sugar
- 2 c. marshmallow creme
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
Cakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Prepare baking tins (Foil Tarts work perfectly) by spraying well with cooking spray.
- If you don’t have baking tins, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, stir together buttermilk and vanilla, set aside.
- Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an a mixer until pale and fluffy, then add egg and beat well until combined.
- Alternately mix in flour mixture and buttermilk, 1/4 at a time beginning and ending with flour, scraping down side of bowl after each addition and mixing until smooth.
- Scoop 2 tablespoonfuls either into baking tins OR onto greased cooking sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake a total of 15 minutes in the top and bottom thirds of the oven, switching positions halfway through the cook time.
- Cakes should be springy with a toothpick coming out clean from the center when done.
- Dump from tins (if applicable) and move cakes onto a cooling rack.
Marshmallow cream:
- In a mixer, combine softened butter and shortening and mix until creamy. Scrape the edges of the bowl at least once.
- Add half of the other ingredients (1 c. powdered sugar, 1 c. marshmallow cream, 1 tsp. vanilla extract) and mix well, scraping the bowl well during mixing.
- Combine the rest of the ingredients and beat on medium-high until well mixed.
- Remove from mixer, add peanut butter and mix in by hand.
Assembly
- Once cakes have fully cooled, use a serrated knife to cut the whoopie pies in half. If you baked the cakes in tins, you should cut along the ridge from the top of the tin. If you baked without tins, cut through the middle or leaving a little more cake on the bottom than top.
- Scoop ~1 tbsp of marshmallow cream onto the bottom half of the cake and press the top down enough so that the cream spreads to the edges, but doesn’t squeeze out.
- Store in a sealed container to maintain freshness.
Weekend Baker 
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