These high altitude carrot cake whoopie pies are made with the most delicious, soft and fluffy carrot cake cookies. The cookies are flavored with brown butter and warm spices, then sandwiched with cream cheese frosting for an irresistible treat.
You might also love these high altitude recipes for carrot cake cheesecake, carrot crumb coffee cake and carrot cake cupcakes.
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What are Whoopie Pies?
A whoopie pie is basically a sandwich cookie that’s made of two little cakes that are baked like cookies and assembled with cream filling sandwiched between them. My carrot cake sandwich cookies are made with very soft and cakey carrot cookies, not crisp or chewy cookies.
Besides today’s carrot cake whoopie pies, I also have whoopie pie recipes for vanilla, chocolate, snickerdoodle, red velvet, pumpkin or gingerbread. They’re often filled with some type of marshmallow cream filling, but I prefer buttercream. Of course, carrot cake is typically frosted with cream cheese frosting, so the filling in these sandwich cookies is a sweet and tangy cream cheese buttercream that’s just wonderful.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Soft and Cakey. Carrot whoopie pies stay soft for days after baking, and the combination of soft, fluffy cake with cream cheese filling is just delicious.
Quick and Easy. The batter comes together quickly, and the cookies are easy to assemble with filling sandwiched between. If you want something a little simpler for Easter than a carrot cake layer cake, these carrot sandwich cookies are a dessert that everyone will love.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Cookies
- Butter. The butter adds flavor and moisture, and the step of browning the butter first adds even more depth of flavor.
- Carrots. Finely grate the carrots, which you can do in a small food processor or Ninja. I tend to weigh the carrots, since you can pack too much of them into a measuring cup, resulting in a batter that’s too wet and dense.
- Applesauce. Adds moisture. Use unsweetened applesauce, so you don’t add extra sugar to the recipe.
- Sugar. A combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar adds moisture and sweetness, and helps the cookies to spread as they bake.
- Egg. Adds moisture and structure.
- Flour. All purpose flour gives the cookies structure and strength.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda. Leavening agents, which help the cookies to puff up and spread.
- Spices. For the most delicious flavor, you’ll need vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.
Filling
- Cream Cheese. Use block style, full fat cream cheese. For best results, the cream cheese should be cold from the refrigerator.
- Butter. While the cream cheese should be cold, you’ll need to let your butter soften to room temperature.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the frosting.
- Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
Instructions
Cookies
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter for several minutes, until nutty golden brown solids form at the bottom of the pan. Immediately scrape the butter and the brown solids into a bowl.
- Add the grated carrots, applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir into a thick batter with a spatula until well combined.
- Chill the batter for 1 hour, uncovered, in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.
- Use a medium cookie scoop with a release lever (2 tbsp capacity) to scoop the batter onto the baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between each cookie. Refrigerate the remaining batter until needed.
- Bake the cookies for about 12-14 minutes, until they have spread and puffed, and there’s no raw batter on top of the cookies when you gently touch them.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, then gently transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling. You should be able to get about 26 cookies, for 13 sandwiches.
Filling
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed for several minutes, until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar and meringue powder, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla. Increase the speed to medium, and mix for about 3-5 minutes, until smooth and fluffy.
- Turn half the cooled cookies over, so the bottoms are facing up. Spread or pipe the buttercream onto the cookies, then top with a second cookie to make a sandwich.
- Refrigerate the cookies in an airtight container until ready to serve. For a finishing touch, I sprinkled the cookies with a little granulated sugar.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
You can leave out the meringue powder, but I’d suggest replacing it with corn starch, which can also help to stabilize cream cheese frosting.
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High Altitude Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
Cookies
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 ½ oz peeled and finely grated carrots (about 1 cup, not packed)
- â…“ cup unsweetened applesauce
- â…“ cup granulated sugar
- â…“ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
Filling
- 4 oz (1/2 block) full fat cream cheese, cold
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 ¼ – 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp meringue powder
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cookies
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter for several minutes, until nutty golden brown solids form at the bottom of the pan. Immediately scrape the butter and the brown solids into a bowl.
- Add the grated carrots, applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir into a thick batter with a spatula until well combined.
- Chill the batter for 1 hour, uncovered, in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper.
- Use a medium cookie scoop with a release lever (2 tbsp capacity) to scoop the batter onto the baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between each cookie. Refrigerate the remaining batter until needed.
- Bake the cookies for about 12-14 minutes, until they have spread and puffed, and there's no raw batter on top of the cookies when you gently touch them.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, then gently transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling. You should be able to get about 26 cookies, for 13 sandwiches.
Filling
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed for several minutes, until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar and meringue powder, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla. Increase the speed to medium, and mix for about 3-5 minutes, until smooth and fluffy.
- Turn half the cooled cookies over, so the bottoms are facing up. Spread or pipe the buttercream onto the cookies, then top with a second cookie to make a sandwich.
- Refrigerate the cookies in an airtight container until ready to serve. For a finishing touch, I sprinkled the cookies with a little granulated sugar.
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