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Pumpkin Whoopie Pies are two soft, cakey spiced pumpkin cookies hugging a cloud of fluffy marshmallow filling, and they disappear faster than anything else I bake all fall. The first crisp October weekend every year, Maddie and Lizzie each claim a mixing job, one on batter, one on filling, just like when we bake our pumpkin bread.
The cookies bake up pillowy in 13 minutes, and the marshmallow creme filling whips together while they cool.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 13 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour
- 🍽️ Serving: 12 whoopie pies
- ⚡ Calories: 695kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Spiced pumpkin cake with sweet marshmallow cream
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, simpler than our layered pumpkin cheesecake bars
Quick Answer
Whisk flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Separately mix both sugars with butter and oil, add pumpkin puree, then eggs and vanilla, and combine with the dry mixture. Bake 2 inch dollops at 375 degrees for 11 to 13 minutes. Whip shortening, butter, powdered sugar, spice, vanilla, and marshmallow creme into the filling, then sandwich it between the cooled cookies.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- A full 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin keeps them cakey. The moisture in real pumpkin puree is what gives whoopie pie cookies their signature soft, cake like crumb.
- Butter plus oil covers flavor and texture. Butter brings richness while oil keeps the cookies tender for days, the same trick as a great snack cake.
- Two sugars deepen the flavor. Brown sugar adds molasses warmth that plays off the pumpkin pie spice, while granulated keeps the texture light.
- Shortening stabilizes the filling. It holds the marshmallow creme filling fluffy at room temperature, so the pies do not squish flat on the dessert tray.
- High heat sets the domes. 375 degrees springs the dollops into perfectly domed rounds with dry tops, the ideal whoopie pie shape.
- The spice is layered twice. Pumpkin pie spice in the cookies and a half teaspoon in the filling means every component tastes like fall, not just the cake.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Twelve generous handheld desserts from one batch, no plates or forks needed.
- The cookies stay soft for days thanks to the pumpkin and oil.
- The fluffy marshmallow middle makes them the fun cousin of our pumpkin cheesecake bars.
Key Ingredients
Fall baking staples anchored by a can of pumpkin.
- Pumpkin puree: A cup and a half of pure pumpkin, not pie filling, for moisture, color, and real pumpkin flavor.
- Pumpkin pie spice: Seasons both the cookies and the filling, with extra cinnamon backing it up in the batter.
- Brown and granulated sugar: The duo sweetens the cookies and adds a caramel note that plain sugar cannot.
- Marshmallow creme: The heart of the classic whoopie pie filling, whipped fluffy with butter and shortening.
- Vegetable shortening: Keeps the filling stable and pipeable so the assembled pies hold their shape.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
Once you master the base, the middle is your playground.
- Swap the marshmallow filling for tangy cream cheese frosting for a more classic pumpkin pairing.
- Add a half cup of mini chocolate chips to the batter, pumpkin and chocolate are a sneaky great combo.
- Roll the exposed filling edges in chopped toasted pecans or festive sprinkles.
- For a flakier pumpkin breakfast take, try our pumpkin danish with cream cheese.
How to Make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
- Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside. In a large bowl, mix both sugars with the butter and oil until smooth, then add the pumpkin puree and mix until combined.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla, then add the dry mixture and mix until just combined with no dry patches.
- Place 2 inch dollops of batter 3 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets, they spread quite a bit.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 11 to 13 minutes, until the tops look dry and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes on the tray, then finish cooling on a wire rack.
- Whip the shortening and butter until smooth, add the powdered sugar a little at a time, then the salt, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla. Mix in the marshmallow creme until fluffy.
- Spread or pipe the filling onto the flat side of half the cookies, top each with another cookie, and serve.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Use a cookie scoop for matching halves. Uniform dollops mean every top has a same size bottom.
- Leave 3 inches between dollops. This batter spreads more than a standard cookie dough.
- Cool the cookies completely before filling. Even slightly warm cakes melt the marshmallow filling into a puddle.
- Pipe the filling for bakery looks. A piping bag with the tip cut wide gives that perfect swirl to the edge.
- Do not swap pumpkin pie filling for puree. The canned pie filling is pre sweetened and too wet for this batter.
- Chill assembled pies 15 minutes before serving. The filling sets slightly so the first bite is clean, not squishy.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These are the handheld star of every fall dessert table we set, stacked in a pyramid next to our pumpkin cheesecake bars and a pumpkin slab pie for the traditionalists.
For a school bake sale, wrap each one in a cellophane bag with a twist tie, they hold their shape better than frosted cupcakes and sell out first. The pumpkin chocolate chip cookies make a great partner batch.
Come Thanksgiving morning, sneak the kids one with hot cider while the turkey cooks, it buys you at least 20 minutes of kitchen peace. Our apple hand pies work the same magic.
Store assembled whoopie pies in a single layer in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, and let them sit out 15 minutes before serving. Unfilled cookies freeze beautifully for up to 3 months, thaw and fill the day you need them.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies FAQs
Legend credits Amish and New England kitchens, where the story goes that farmers and kids shouted whoopie when they found the treat in their lunch pail. Whatever the true origin, they are a Pennsylvania and Maine classic, and Maine even named the whoopie pie its official state treat.
This version whips vegetable shortening, butter, powdered sugar, fine sea salt, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and a full jar of marshmallow creme into a fluffy, stable filling. The shortening keeps it from melting at room temperature while the marshmallow keeps it light.
Usually the batter was overmixed or the oven ran cool. Mix just until the dry ingredients disappear, verify the oven is fully at 375 degrees, and chill the batter 15 minutes if your kitchen is warm. Old baking powder or soda will also rob the lift.
Yes, two ways. Bake the cookies up to 3 months ahead and freeze them unfilled, or assemble the pies up to 4 days ahead and refrigerate in a single layer. The filled pies actually taste best on day two once the filling slightly soaks into the cake.
Texturally they are little cakes, structurally they are sandwich cookies, and they are definitely not pies. The batter is looser than cookie dough and bakes into soft, domed cake rounds, which is why the crumb feels like eating frosted pumpkin cake with your hands.
You can, but roast and puree it, then drain it in a fine mesh strainer for an hour first. Fresh pumpkin carries more water than canned, and extra moisture makes the cookies spread thin and bake gummy. Canned pure pumpkin is the consistent choice.
Made these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies? Leave a comment and a star rating below, I would love to hear how they turned out!
If you love these fall flavors, our classic chocolate whoopie pies are the year round staple to master next.
Add these chewy white chocolate pumpkin snickerdoodles to your fall cookie tray.
For your next potluck, slice up this sheet pan pumpkin cake with toasted pecan frosting.
Add these chewy iced pumpkin oatmeal cookies to your fall cookie tray this year.
For the same creamy pumpkin filling in a crispy shell, try my sugar cookie cups.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups pure pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
- ¾ cup vegetable shortening
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 7.5 ounces marshmallow creme
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until combined, set aside.3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- In a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, mix together the sugar, brown sugar, butter, and oil until smooth.1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup light brown sugar, ½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup vegetable oil
- Add in the pumpkin and mix until smooth.1 ½ cups pure pumpkin puree
- Next add in the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the dry mixture to the wet and mix until just combined with no dry patches.
- Place 2-inch dollops of the mixture 3-inches apart onto the prepared sheet trays. They will spread out a lot.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes until puffed and the tops appear dry. A toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean.
- Let them cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Place the shortening and butter into a large bowl and whip it until smooth with an electric hand mixer. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until combined.¾ cup vegetable shortening, ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup powdered sugar
- Add the salt, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla, and mix until combined. Lastly add the marshmallow creme and mix it in until smooth.½ teaspoon fine sea salt, ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 7.5 ounces marshmallow creme
- Spread or pipe the filling onto the bottom of half of the whoopie cookies.
- Add another whoopie cookie on top, and serve immediately.
Notes
- Use Parchment Paper: Line your baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and make cleanup easier.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature for easier mixing.
- Don’t Overmix: Mix the batter just until the dry ingredients are incorporated to keep the cookies soft and cake-like.
- Pipe the Filling: Use a piping bag for a neat and professional look when adding the filling.
- Store Properly: Store the whoopie pies in an airtight container to keep them fresh and delicious.
Nutrition
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