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Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies are created by filling two soft carrot cake cookies with a generous swirl of cream cheese icing! The soft carrot cake cookies are packed with coconut and pecans, making a delicious whoopie pie, full of texture and flavor.

This Whoopie Pie Recipe makes the perfect sweet treat for spring, Easter, or any other time of the year. Using my tried and true Moist Carrot Cake Recipe was key to making this fabulous treat.

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pie sitting on a bed of flaked coconut.
Table of Contents hide
1 Why You Should Make These
2 Reader Endorsement:
3 Ingredient Notes
4 Expert Tips
5 Frequently Asked Questions
6 You May Also Like:
7 Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies Recipe

Why You Should Make These

  • If you love carrot cake, these gems will rock your world!!
  • They have built-in portion control!!
  • A slice of carrot cake enveloped in cream cheese frosting has many more calories than one of these frosting-filled sandwich cakes.
  • They freeze well, so you can get temptation out of your sight and save some for later.

Reader Endorsement:

From Amy: Delish! Many compliments. Made mini versions. Added chopped toasted nuts and toasted coconut to the outside of the filling. Added nice color and texture.

Ingredient Notes

  • Eggs, Butter, and Cream Cheese (affiliate link) should be at room temperature for the best blending and incorporation. Set them out for 1-2 hours, but not longer, before you plan to use them.
  • Nuts should be toasted, cooled, and then chopped. Roasting brings out the natural oils and makes the nuts more flavorful. Cook for about 5 minutes at 350°, shaking the pan at the halfway point, and watching carefully as they can easily burn.
  • Sift the Powdered Sugar (affiliate link) to ensure a smooth filling.
  • Always use real, not imitation, Vanilla Extract (affiliate link). There is a world of difference in the flavor, and imitation won’t provide the best results.
2 Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies stacked in a white bowl.

Expert Tips

  • I’ve used a Whoopie Pie Pan (affiliate link) for baking up my chocolate whoopie pies and red velvet whoopie pies, but I found these worked just fine baked on a baking sheet.
  • PRO-Tip: To make them consistently sized,  use a 2 ½-3-inch diameter biscuit cutter (affiliate link to set of cutters) and draw circles, leaving 2 inches of space between them, on a piece of parchment. Flip it over and place it on a baking sheet. Use that template to drop and spread out your dough.
  • Let the carrot cake “cookies” completely cool before filling them. If you want to get fancy, you can use a piping bag and a star tip to swirl the frosting on the flat bottom of one of the whoopie pies, then add the top with the flat side down.
  • If the nuts are the only thing keeping you from trying this recipe, it’s perfectly fine to omit them!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Whoopie Pie?

Whoopie Pies originated in New England by the Pennsylvanian Amish, and are two soft cookies or mounds of cake with a creamy filling. Typically chocolate, there are also spiced cookie, pumpkin, and now carrot cake versions. The traditional chocolate whoopie pies have a vanilla cream filling, but my favorite is a marshmallow creme-based filling. This cream cheese filling is pretty darn tasty, too.

According to Wikipedia, whoopie pies are also known as Black moons, gobs, black-and-whites, bobs, BFO, and Big Fat Oreos.

How Do You Store Whoopie Pies?

The cakes can get too moist if stored at room temperature. I recommend keeping them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap or place a layer of waxed paper between layers if you stack them. Bring them to room temperature to serve for the best flavor and texture.

Can You Freeze Whoopie Pies?

Yes, they freeze well for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before serving plus, as noted above, bring to room temperature for the tastiest indulgence.

You May Also Like:

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Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies - All the magnificent flavors of carrot cake in these fabulous whoopie pies
The Recipe:

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Yield 12 - 18 whoopie pies

All the spectacular flavors of carrot cake in whoopie pie form! The servings will vary depending on how you scoop the batter.

4.7 Stars (136 Reviews)

Ingredients

For cookies:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups grated carrots (2-3 carrots)
  • ½ cup chopped, roasted pecans or walnuts
  • ½ cup shredded coconut

Cream Cheese Filling:

  • 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • ½ cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt and set aside.
  3. In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and both sugars until light. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  4. Add the eggs and the vanilla and beat until combined. Mix in the flour mixture just until combined, then add the carrots, nuts, and coconut. Chill the batter for an hour before scooping.
  5. Using a medium cookie disher, drop about 1 ½ tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes each or until the cakes spring back when pressed with a finger. Remove from the oven. While they're hot, use a spatula to tap them into nice rounds if they look misshapen.
  7. Allow them to cool completely before filling.
  8. To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese and butter till combined. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and lemon juice, and beat until smooth.
  9. To assemble the whoopie pies, spread or pipe the filling onto the flat side of one cake. Top it with another cake, flat-side down. Repeat with the rest of the cakes and filling.

Notes

You may need to add a little more powdered sugar if your filling isn't thick enough to pipe.

Adapted from Serious Eats.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 whoopie pie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 437Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 430mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 2gSugar: 30gProtein: 5g

Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.

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© Liz Berg
Cuisine: American / Category: Desserts