Pumpkin Whoopie Pies — 🎃🙌🎉 Soft and tender pumpkin cookies with a thick layer of sweet buttercream sandwiched between them will make you scream “Whoopie!” for one of these fun pies. They’re easy and fast to make, moist, and rich!
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Best Ever Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Recipe
Whoopie!!! That’s what I want to say when I bite into one of these pumpkin whoopie cakes.
If you’ve never eaten a homemade whoopie pie, it’s essentially rich buttercream filling that’s sandwiched between two very soft and tender cookies. It doesn’t get much better!
I just wanted to pick off these little morsels and squish them between my fingers. The cookies are soft and remind me of my days squishing Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies as a kid.
Buttercream is layered on thick and in plentiful abundance. The only way frosting and fillings should be!
Love Pumpkin Spice Treats?
My soft and puffy pumpkin spice cookies are full of sweet pumpkin spice flavor and are perfect for a crowd.
And my pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting is easy to make and perfect for holidays and celebrations!
Ingredients for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
To make this spiced pumpkin whoopie pie recipe, you’ll need:
Whoopie pies:
- Brown sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Pure pumpkin puree – Make sure to use pure canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which contains added spices and sweeteners!
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Spices
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
Buttercream filling:
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar (also known as confectioner’s sugar)
- Unsalted butter
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Making homemade pumpkin whoopie pies with buttercream frosting is much, much simpler than you might think! Here’s an overview of the baking process:
- Whisk the wet ingredients and dry ingredients for the whoopie pie batter like you would cupcakes. Then, use a spoon or small ice cream scoop to scoop it out onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat using a 1/4 measuring cup. Don’t worry if the batter is soupy! It’s supposed to be.
- Bake the cookies just until set, noting that they’ll firm up as they cool.
- While the cookies cool, combine the buttercream-filling ingredients in a large bowl. A stand mixer is useful for this! The filling should be light and fluffy.
- Allow the pumpkin whoopie pies to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Pipe or spoon the filling onto the flat side of half of the whoopie cakes. Then, stack the remaining cakes on top, creating a sandwich. Enjoy!
Use a Different Filling
Not a fan of classic buttercream? Feel free to swap out the filling with marshmallow buttercream, cream cheese filling, or chocolate frosting for a unique twist on this delicious pumpkin-flavored fall treat.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, some people make the filling with vegetable shortening, but I prefer butter in my buttercream because the flavor can’t be beat. However, the advantage to using shortening is that it has much more structure than butter and so the filling is firmer, holds up better, and has more density and less squish than a butter-based buttercream.
Yes, you can freeze the assembled homemade whoopie pies or freeze the cookies and frosting separately. If freezing the assembled pumpkin whoopie pies, be sure to wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then seal them in a freezer bag. This prevents the buttercream filling from oozing out and also prevents the cookies from sticking to each other.
Yes, you can freeze the assembled homemade whoopie pies or freeze the cookies and frosting separately. If freezing the assembled pumpkin whoopie pies, be sure to wrap them individually in plastic wrap and then seal them in a freezer bag. This prevents the buttercream filling from oozing out and also prevents the cookies from sticking to each other.
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Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Equipment
- 2 Baking Sheets
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- 1 Quarter Cup Measuring Cup
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
For the Buttercream Filling
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted and divided
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 325°F and line two baking sheets with Silpat liners or parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine first 11 ingredients, up to the salt, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the remaining ingredients, and mix until just combined; don’t overmix. Batter will be soft and runny.
- Using a one-quarter cup measure, scoop the batter onto prepared baking sheets, six round mounds of batter per sheet; this may also be done with a pastry bag if preferred.
- Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes, or until tops have set. Cookies will be very soft and may look underdone, but firm up as they cool.
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for at least 10 minutes before moving them to rack to finish cooling.
- Allow cookies to cool completely before filling and sandwiching them together. While they cool, make the filling.
For the Buttercream Filling:
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the milk, vanilla extract, and 1 cup of the powdered sugar, then mix on high speed until the mixture is creamy and light.
- Add butter and remaining cup of sugar, and whip on high speed until very light, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Apply a generous dollop of frosting to 6 of the cookies. Sandwich them together with the remaining unfrosted 6 cookies, creating 6 whoopie pies.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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great
Dear Averie thank you for answering my question so fast. In the mean time I tried your recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies. I was very pleased with the results. I didn’t even use my whoopie pie pan. I just followed your recipe exactly. I was very proud of them.
I’m so glad you had success with my recipe! Glad they worked out great and you didn’t even need to use your whoopie pie pan!