Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies

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 pies recipe makes the perfect sweet treat for spring, Easter or any other time of the year.

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies

Some of my blogger friends and I are sharing root vegetable recipes today. I adore beets, but I’d be eating those solo with the picky palates around here. So instead of roasting beets, parsnips or making a turnip mash (the hubby would revolt, I’m sure!), I chose carrots and created these carrot cake whoopie pies.

The family did pretty much revolt, though. Katie first asked if I added nuts. Ummm, yeah. The picky hubby doesn’t do nuts, either, and I think coconut is even higher on his dislike list. Our oldest was over for our usual Sunday night family meal and though he was a willing taste tester,  his response was that they “taste like carrot cake.” Period. Well, I guess I would have been disappointed if they didn’t! Not so helpful.

I gave up sweets for Lent, but “some” say that Sunday is a free day. Since I wasn’t getting any usable feedback from the family, I considered it my duty to give these filled carrot cake cookies a taste. I was only going to eat half, but I just couldn’t let that poor little remnant go uneaten. I even thought of nibbling on a second until I snapped out of my sugar coma and came to my senses. Carrot cake desserts are very high on my favorites list. These carrot cake whoopie pies were terrific!

Carrot Cake Desserts

When I used to make my own birthday cake, it was always my classic carrot cake. I’ve even made a caramel filled carrot cake and a cheesecake stuffed carrot cake.  I have a bit of an obsession with this dessert. So the fact, that my family isn’t so onboard doesn’t bother me in the least.

I parked the carrot cake whoopie pies into the freezer; they’ll help alleviate any cravings I’ll have once Lent is over. I love that the carrot cake whoopie pies provide some portion control, as my normal strong willpower flies out the door when a carrot cake dessert enters the room. If you love carrot cake, this recipe is a MUST try!

What Are Whoopie Pies?

Whoopie Pies originated in Maine 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 often have a marshmallow creme based filling.

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

Tips for Making Whoopie Pies

I’ve used a Whoopie Pie Pan 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 consistent sized,  use a 2 1/2-3-inch diameter biscuit cutter 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.

Store these carrot cake whoopie pies in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They also freeze well.

If the nuts are the only thing keeping you from trying this recipe, it’s perfectly fine to omit them!

More Carrot Cake Recipes:

• Carrot Cake Roll from Crazy for Crust
• Cheesecake Filled Carrot Cake
• Old Fashioned Carrot Cake
• Classic Carrot Cake
• Caramel Filled Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting 
• More Cake Recipes
• More Cookie Recipes

Tools Used to Make Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies

• Medium Cookie Scoop
• Half Sheet Pan, 13″x18″
• Parchment Paper Baking Sheets
• The Pampered Chef Icing Decorator
• Small Offset Spatula

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Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies

All the spectacular flavors of carrot cake in whoopie pie form!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Yield 18 whoopie pies

Ingredients

For cookies:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 11/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups grated carrots (2-3 carrots)
• 1/2 cup chopped, roasted pecans or walnuts
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut

Cream Cheese Filling:

• 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 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 sides of the bowl. 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.
4. Using a medium cookie disher, drop about 2 tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes each or until the cakes spring back when pressed with a finger. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely before filling.
5. 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.
6. 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

Adapted from Serious Eats.