High Altitude Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Chocolate whoopie pies are part cake and part cookie, sandwiched together with fluffy vanilla buttercream.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

5 from 5 votes

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 11

Chill Time 1 30

Total Time 2 11

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings15

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (for a whiter color, substitute vegetable shortening for half the butter)
2 cups powdered sugar
½ tsp meringue powder
⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder, then whisk until everything is evenly distributed.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, oil and vanilla, until well combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and use a spatula to stir everything together until all the flour is incorporated.
Cover the bowl of batter and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours 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 30 cookies, for 15 assembled whoopie pies. (The pan may only fit 15 cookies at a time; keep the rest of the batter refrigerated while you bake the first batch.)
TIP: Get a small bowl of water, dip your finger lightly in the water, and use your wet finger to smooth out the top of the batter before baking the whoopie pies. This will give them a smoother, prettier finish.
Bake the cookies for 11 minutes, until puffed and set. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before 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 2A, 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 cookies in an airtight container, separated with layers of wax paper so they don't stick to each other, until ready to serve.

Keyword Big Fat Oreo, Gobs, High Altitude, Sandwich Cookies, Whoopie Pies