Two large snickerdoodle whoopee pies sitting on a white plate, doused with white powdered sugar.

Snickerdoodle Whoopie Pies With Buttercream Frosting

Updated:

Yield: 6 Whoopie Pies

Ingredients

  • ½ cup vegetable shortening
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2½ cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda (optional)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup milk
  • 16 oz room temperature salted or unsalted butter
  • 6 cups powdered sugar

Utensils

  • Two 9×9 in (23×23 cm) pans or similar
  • Whisk or mixing utensil
  • Electric mixing utensil (Paddle attachment preferred but any whisk will work)
  • Large bowl
  • Pam or oil and aluminum foil, or parchment paper
  • Spatula

Let’s Make It!

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. In large bowl, whisk shortening, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
Brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and shortening in a bowl.
Before.
Brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and shortening mixed in a bowl.
After.
  1. Add milk, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Whisk together.
Flour, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, and milk added to mixing bowl of brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and shortening.
Before.
Everything mixed together in a bowl.
After.
  1. Line pans with parchment paper or aluminium foil and oil.
  2. Drop 12 large spoonfuls onto the pans, given an inch or two of space all around. These don’t have to be laid flat.
Raw batter on a parchment lined baking pan.
  1. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until they start to firm. Be careful, we want to get them out before they start crisping/darkening. Light crisping won’t be a big issue if it does happen however.
  2. Take pan out of oven then gently, using a spatula, take cookies off pan and lay onto a flat surface to cool for 30-45 minutes. Be sure they are completely cool before adding frosting in the next steps!
Whoopie pie cookies taken out of oven, sitting on parchment lined baking sheet.
A little dark on some edges is fine but it’s still something we want to avoid!
  1. In a large bowl, add the butter, powdered sugar. Using an electric mixer, whisk slowly for a short time to create buttercream frosting. Be careful not to over-mix (it’s better to under-mix)! You can also add a pinch of milk and vanilla extract if you find it too dry or want a little more flavor.
Finished creamed buttercream in a bowl.
  1. Add a large spoonful of the frosting to the flat bottom of a cookie. Grab another cookie and place it against the other side. Flat bottom sides should be against the buttercream.
  2. Store at room temperature covered or inside an airtight container. Consume within 2 days. Refrigerating these may dry out the cookie part and harden the frosting.

Notes & Alternatives

  • There’s several ways to make buttercream frosting, the one presented here is very basic. With this recipe, the frosting isn’t too sweet. If you want something a bit sweeter, use 7-8 cups of powdered sugar instead.
  • Creating other whoopie pie flavors is very easy. For example, replacing the cinnamon and brown sugar with other components like cocoa powder and white sugar will give you chocolate whoopie pies.

History

  • Whoopie pies are also called gobs, devil dogs, and big fat Oreos. They do resemble large Oreos as they’re commonly made using chocolate.
  • Despite chocolate being the most common whoopie pie, flavors are as diverse as the number of cake flavors that exist.
  • They were likely invented in New England or a neighboring state about a hundred years ago.
  • Maine made it their official state treat in 2011.
  • Maine holds an annual whoopie pie festival that draws in thousands of people.
  • The largest whoopie pie was created in Maine and weighed a little over a thousand pounds!
  • Whoopie Pie day is celebrated in Maine on the fourth Saturday in June.
  • …Maine really loves whoopie pies!
PinLinkedIn

Leave a Comment