Old-Fashioned Whoopie Pies

Whoopie pies are two soft, cakey chocolate rounds sandwiched around a sweet vanilla filling, and this is the old-fashioned version: cocoa and buttermilk cakes baked for 8 minutes, cooled on a rack and filled with a fluffy shortening-based cream that holds its shape when you bite. The recipe makes 12 full-size pies in about 45 minutes, including the cooling time.

They sit somewhere between a cookie and a cupcake, which is why nobody can agree what to call them. Pennsylvania Dutch bakers call them gobs, New England calls them whoopie pies, and Maine liked them enough to make them official. Whatever the name, the formula has not changed in a hundred years: a cake batter dropped by the spoonful, a filling that is mostly sugar and air, and a sandwich that is better the next day.

What Are Whoopie Pies?

A whoopie pie is a sandwich of two small, soft chocolate cakes with a sweet white filling in the middle. The cakes are baked from a drop batter, not a dough, so they come out domed and spongy rather than crisp, and the filling is traditionally made from shortening, powdered sugar and either marshmallow creme or beaten egg whites. The result is a hand-held dessert that eats like a slice of cake you do not need a fork for.

Both Pennsylvania and New England claim to have invented them, and the argument is unlikely to be settled. What is settled is that in 2011 the Maine State Legislature designated the whoopie pie as the state’s official treat, which tells you how seriously the region takes them.

Old-fashioned whoopie pies, the kind in this recipe, use shortening in both the cake and the filling and lean on buttermilk and a hot water and baking soda mixture for lift. Newer versions swap in butter and marshmallow fluff. Both are good; the old-fashioned version is lighter, springier and keeps longer, which is why it is the one that church cookbooks never let go of.

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Ingredient Notes

• Shortening or butter. Half a cup for the cakes and three quarters of a cup for the filling. Shortening gives the puffiest, most tender cake and a filling that holds its shape at room temperature. Softened butter, which is what is in the photos, tastes richer and spreads slightly more.
• Granulated sugar. One cup. White sugar keeps the cake pale cocoa rather than fudgy, which is the old-fashioned texture.
• Eggs. Two large, for the cakes, plus two egg whites for the filling. Use pasteurized egg whites from a carton for the filling if raw egg is a concern at your table.
• Buttermilk. One cup. The acid tenderizes the crumb and reacts with the baking soda. A cup of milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice, left for 5 minutes, works in a pinch.
• Vanilla extract. One teaspoon in the batter and another in the filling. Real vanilla matters most in the filling, where it is the only flavor.
• All-purpose flour. Two cups for the cakes, leveled, plus two tablespoons in the filling, where it keeps the cream from slumping.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder. Half a cup. Natural cocoa gives the classic reddish-brown cake; Dutch-process gives a darker, milder one. Both work with this amount of baking soda.
• Salt. Half a teaspoon, so the cake does not taste flat under all that sugar.
• Hot water and baking soda. Half a cup of hot water with 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, stirred together and added last. It blooms the cocoa and gives the cakes their dome.
• Powdered sugar. Two cups, sifted if lumpy, for the filling.
• Milk. Two to three tablespoons, to loosen the filling to a pipeable consistency.

Shortening vs Butter in Whoopie Pies

This is the question every whoopie pie recipe has to answer. Shortening has no water in it and stays solid at room temperature, so a cake made with it rises higher, holds a rounder dome and stays soft for days, and a filling made with it stays fluffy on a picnic table in July. Butter is 80 percent fat and 16 percent water, so the cakes spread a little wider, the crumb is a touch denser, and the filling softens above 70°F.

Flavor is the trade. Shortening tastes of nothing, which lets the cocoa and vanilla do the talking; butter tastes of butter. The old-fashioned answer is shortening throughout, and that is what the recipe card calls for. If you want the richer flavor, use butter in the cakes and keep the shortening in the filling, which keeps the structure where it matters most. Half butter and half shortening in both is the compromise that pleases everyone.

Whichever fat you use, cream it with the sugar for a full 2 minutes until it is light and fluffy. That step beats air into the batter, and in a recipe with no baking powder, that air is part of the lift.

How To Make Whoopie Pies

First, heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line two large baking sheets with parchment. In a large bowl, beat the shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl once. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the buttermilk and vanilla. The mixture will look curdled at this point, and that is normal.

Next, sift the flour, cocoa and salt together and fold them into the wet mixture until it is streaky, not smooth. Then stir the hot water and baking soda together in a small bowl until the soda dissolves and the water foams a little, and fold that in just until the batter is even. It will be loose, closer to a thick cake batter than a cookie dough.

After that, drop the batter in rounded tablespoons onto the sheets, leaving 2 inches between them, because they spread. Bake for 8 minutes, until the tops spring back when pressed lightly. Let the cakes sit on the sheet for 3 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Filling and Assembling

While the cakes cool, beat the shortening, powdered sugar and flour on low until they come together. Add the milk, egg whites and vanilla, turn the mixer up to medium and beat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the filling is thick, smooth and holds a soft peak. Scrape it into a piping bag with a large star tip, or simply use a spoon.

Finally, turn half the cakes flat side up. Pipe a ring of rosettes around the edge of each one, leaving the center open, because the ring spreads inward when the top goes on and that is what gives you filling right to the edge without any squeezing out. Set the remaining cakes on top, flat side down, and press gently.

How To Tell When Whoopie Pies Are Done

Whoopie pie cakes are done when the tops are set, dull rather than shiny, and spring back when you press one lightly with a fingertip. A toothpick in the center should come out clean or with a dry crumb. In most ovens that is 8 minutes at 400°F; small cakes from a level tablespoon can be done in 7, and large ones from a cookie scoop can take 9 or 10.

Do not wait for them to brown. Chocolate cakes give almost no visual cue, and by the time the edges look darker the whole cake is dry. Pull them at the first spring-back, because they go on cooking on the hot sheet for the 3 minutes before they move to the rack. The cooled cakes should feel soft and slightly tacky on top, and the bottoms should be flat and matte, not crusty.

The filling is done when it holds a soft peak on the beater and a rosette piped onto a plate keeps its ridges. If it slumps, beat it a minute longer or add a tablespoon more powdered sugar.

Make It Ahead

The cakes can be baked a day ahead. Cool them completely, layer them in an airtight container with parchment between the layers and keep them at room temperature overnight. They are actually easier to fill once they have rested, because a fresh cake is delicate.

The filling can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, then give it a quick beat before piping so it is fluffy again. Fill the whoopie pies a few hours before you need them, or the night before if they are going into lunchboxes.

Storing Whoopie Pies

Filled whoopie pies keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days, as long as the room is below 70°F. In a warm kitchen, refrigerate them; they keep for 4 to 5 days in the fridge, with parchment between the layers so the tops do not stick to the filling above. They taste best after 20 minutes out of the fridge, when the cake softens again.

To freeze, wrap each pie individually in plastic wrap, then slide them into a freezer bag. They keep for up to 2 months and thaw in about an hour on the counter or overnight in the fridge. There is no need to reheat them, and frozen whoopie pies eaten half-thawed are a legitimate summer dessert on their own.

Variations and Substitutions

Filling Flavors

Marshmallow filling. Beat a 7-ounce jar of marshmallow creme with the shortening and 1 cup of powdered sugar instead of the egg-white version. It is sweeter and stickier, and it is what most bakeries use.

Peppermint. Half a teaspoon of peppermint extract in the filling, with crushed candy canes pressed around the edges for December.

Peanut butter. Replace a quarter cup of the shortening with creamy peanut butter and add a pinch of salt.

Cream cheese. Swap the shortening for 8 ounces of cream cheese and 4 tablespoons of butter. It is tangier and must be refrigerated.

Cake Swaps

Coffee instead of water. Use half a cup of hot coffee in place of the hot water. It deepens the chocolate without tasting of coffee.

Mini whoopie pies. Drop the batter by teaspoons and bake for 6 minutes. You will get about 30 small pies, which is the right size for a party tray.

Gluten-free. A one-to-one gluten-free flour blend works in both the cakes and the filling. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes before scooping so the flour hydrates.

Pumpkin. For a fall version, replace the cocoa with 1 cup of pumpkin puree, cut the buttermilk to half a cup and add 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. Use the cream cheese filling above.

What to Serve with Whoopie Pies

A cold glass of milk is the classic, and it is classic because it works. Coffee is the grown-up pairing, and a shot of espresso next to the vanilla filling makes the whole thing taste like a tiramisu that went to a bake sale.

On a dessert table they sit well next to other handheld chocolate things. A tray of almond joy cookies covers the coconut lovers, and a square of Texas sheet cake covers the people who wanted a fork after all. For a nostalgic spread, a Ho Ho cake and a plate of whoopie pies make the point that the snack cakes of childhood are better homemade.

If you have buttermilk left from the carton, the chocolate buttermilk cake uses it up the same week. In summer, half-frozen whoopie pies next to peanut butter and banana ice cream sandwiches are a two-sandwich dessert that children remember.

Whoopie Pies FAQ

More Questions About the Filling and Cakes

Bake a double batch, freeze half and you have dessert for a month of lunchboxes. Old-fashioned whoopie pies are the rare treat that is as good on day three as on day one, and a Texas sheet cake beside them covers any crowd.