High altitude gingerbread whoopie pies flavored with molasses and cozy winter spices, and sandwiched with fluffy vanilla buttercream. This delightfully cakey cookie sandwich is a fun alternative to cupcakes, and makes a wonderful holiday dessert for Christmas.
You might also love these high altitude recipes for gingerbread cake with mascarpone buttercream, gingerbread cinnamon rolls, and gingerbread sheet cake with powdered sugar snowflakes.
This site contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that I may make a small commission if you purchase a product using those links. This in no way affects my opinion of those products and services. All opinions expressed on this site are my own.
What are Whoopie Pies?
A whoopie pie is basically a cookie sandwich that’s made of two little cakes that are baked like cookies and assembled with cream filling between them. They’re not as light and fluffy as a cake or cupcake, but not as dense or chewy as a cookie either. Whoopie pies are also sometimes called a black moon, black and white, big fat Oreo (or BFO), or a gob (which is a term specific to Pittsburgh and surrounding areas). Gobs are the name that I grew up knowing them by (since my dad was from Pennsylvania, and gobs were one of his favorite treats), and my mom usually made a chocolate and vanilla combination.
Besides gingerbread whoopie pies, other popular flavors include vanilla, carrot cake, chocolate, pumpkin, red velvet or snickerdoodle. They’re often filled with some type of marshmallow cream filling, but I prefer buttercream.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. You can quickly mix up the batter with a bowl and spoon.
So Much Gingerbread Flavor. With plenty of spices and molasses, these gingerbread whoopie pies taste like Christmas.
Soft for Days. Whoopie pies get really soft and chewy when they’re refrigerated, and they’re still soft for several days after baking.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all of the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Cookies
- Water + Instant Espresso Powder. This adds flavor and a deeper color to the cake. You could also substitute strong brewed coffee instead.
- Molasses. Besides the spices, gingerbread needs molasses for its signature color and a deep flavor. I used original (light) molasses, but you can also use dark molasses for today’s recipe, depending on how strong you like the gingerbread flavor.
- Sugar. A combination of dark brown sugar and granulated sugar adds sweetness, moisture and helps the cookies to spread as they bake.
- Vegetable Oil. Moisture. While I haven’t tested it, you can likely use melted butter instead of the oil.
- Eggs. Gives the dough structure and strength.
- All-Purpose Flour. Gives the dough structure so it doesn’t spread too much as the cookies bake.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda. Leavening agents, so the cookies spread and puff up in the oven.
- Spices. Classic spices for gingerbread baked goods are cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. You’ll also need vanilla extract, and salt to balance the sweetness and enhance all the flavors.
Filling
- Butter. Use unsalted butter, or omit the extra salt in the buttercream.
- Powdered Sugar. Sweetens and thickens the buttercream.
- Meringue Powder. Adds stability and improves the texture of buttercream.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Vanilla. You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
Instructions
Cookies
- In a bowl, stir together the water and espresso powder, then whisk in the molasses, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then whisk until everything is evenly distributed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and use a spatula to fold everything together just until moistened. The batter should be thicker than cake batter, but not quite as thick as cookie dough.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour to rest and chill the batter.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a medium cookie scoop with a release lever (1 1/2 – 2 tablespoon capacity) to scoop the batter onto the baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between each cookie. You should be able to get 28 cookies, for 14 assembled whoopie pies.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, until puffed and set. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling.
Filling
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla, and increase the speed to medium. Whip for 4-5 minutes until very light and fluffy, stopping to scrape the bowl down several times.
- Fit a disposable piping bag with tip 1M, and fill with the buttercream.
- Turn half the cookies over so the bottoms are facing up, pipe the buttercream onto the cookies, and top with another cookie.
- Store the whoopie pies in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Cinnamon Sugar
- In a bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar.
- Before serving, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of the whoopie pies.
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
How should I store whoopie pies?
Gingerbread whoopie pies should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days. Let come to room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving.
Can I use this same batter to make gingerbread cupcakes?
No, the batter in today’s recipe is too thick and dense for cupcakes.
You Might Also Like
Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Gingerbread 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
- Medium Cookie Scoop with Release Lever (1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons)
- Baking Sheet + Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Cookies
- ¼ cup warm water
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee
- â…“ cup original molasses
- â…“ cup dark brown sugar (lightly packed)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Filling
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tsp meringue powder, optional
- â…› tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Cinnamon Sugar
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Cookies
- In a bowl, stir together the water and espresso powder, then whisk in the molasses, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then whisk until everything is evenly distributed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and use a spatula to fold everything together just until moistened. The batter should be thicker than cake batter, but not quite as thick as cookie dough.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour to rest and chill the batter.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.Use a medium cookie scoop with a release lever (1 1/2 – 2 tablespoon capacity) to scoop the batter onto the baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between each cookie. You should be able to get 28 cookies, for 14 assembled whoopie pies.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, until puffed and set. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before filling.
Filling
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt, mixing until combined. Add the vanilla, and increase the speed to medium. Whip for 4-5 minutes until very light and fluffy, stopping to scrape the bowl down several times.
- Fit a disposable piping bag with tip 1M, and fill with the buttercream.
- Turn half the cookies over so the bottoms are facing up, pipe the buttercream onto the cookies, and top with another cookie.
- Store the whoopie pies in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Cinnamon Sugar
- In a bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar.
- Before serving, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of the whoopie pies.
Leave a Reply