Recipe for Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

This recipe for whoopie pies features two soft and moist round chocolate cakes with a deliciously sweet and fluffy cream cheese filling. 

If you’ve never tried a homemade whoopie pie, you’re in for a treat! They’re basically a mini chocolate cake in cookie form. You get two round pieces of chocolate cake, which have a creamy filling sandwiched between them. Traditionally, this is a marshmallow fluff filling. But today it might be any form of buttercream frosting. I love the combination of the tender and moist chocolate with my favorite cream cheese filling. My son calls these homemade Oreo cookies and while I agree they are close, I think they are in a class all their own!

The original whoopie pie flavor is chocolate, which is what we’re making today. But you can also bake vanilla, red velvet, and pumpkin whoopie pies. Thankfully, these homemade classic whoopie pies are easy to make, because we make them with a cake mix. All you need to do is mix the cake batter, shape it into balls and bake. Then it’s time to make the cream cheese filling and sandwich it in between the whoopie pies. In under an hour you’ll have made this delicious recipe for whoopie pies!

Who’s ready to make classic whoopie pies with cake mix and cream cheese filling? I know I am!

Recipe Ingredients

• Devil’s Food Cake Mix
• Vegetable shortening
• Eggs

Cream Cheese Filling

• Powdered sugar
• Cream cheese (check out our recipe for easy-peasy homemade cream cheese).
• Butter

How to Make My Recipe for Whoopie Pies With Cream Cheese Filling

In a large bowl, place the cake mix, shortening, and eggs. Beat with an electric mixer or stand mixer until well blended. The cake batter will be stiff.

Using your hands, roll the cookie dough into teaspoon-sized balls. Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet about two inches apart and bake at 350 for 7-9 minutes, or until set in the center. Allow the whoopie pies to cool for a few minutes before removing them from the baking sheet to cool completely.

To make the cream cheese filling

In a large bowl, place all of the whoopie pie filling ingredients. Beat with your electric or stand mixer until light, fluffy, and well combined. Put a small amount of filling on the flat side of one cookie and top it with the bottom of another to make a sandwich. Enjoy!

Storage

• Store your leftover chocolate whoopie pies in an airtight container or covered in plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 1 week.
• You can also store leftovers in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.

Recipe Notes

• Instead of the cream cheese frosting, sandwich your whoopie pies with a creamy chocolate frosting for a double chocolate treat! You can also go traditional and use a meringue filling, some marshmallow fluff, or a vanilla buttercream frosting (made with butter, powdered sugar, milk/cream, and vanilla extract). 
• Another option is to fill your whoopie pies with whipped cream instead (here’s my recipe for homemade whipped cream).
• Or why not try our recipe for maple cashew icing or old-fashioned peanut butter icing for something different?
• Flavor the whoopie pie filling with your favorite extract, like vanilla extract, almond extract, or coconut extract. During the holidays, you could opt for peppermint extract and roll the pie edges in crushed candy cane pies to make a peppermint whoopie pie recipe.
• You can serve your chocolate whoopie pies warm or cold.
• A thick cake batter is a good cake batter. This means your whoopie pies won’t spread too much when baking in the oven.
• To enhance the flavor, add a teaspoon of espresso powder to your cake batter.
• You can use this whoopie pie recipe to make all different types of whoopie pies. Substitute the cake mix for a gingerbread cake mix to make gingerbread whoopie pies, a yellow cake mix and pumpkin pie spice for pumpkin whoopie pies, or a red velvet cake mix for red velvet whoopie pies.

Recipe FAQs

Where do whoopie pies come from?

Whoopie pies are originally from Maine and Pennsylvania and have been baked in New England since 1925. They’re a traditional Pennsylvanian Amish food and one of Maine’s most loved treats, which I’m very glad they shared with the world.

You may also enjoy these cookie recipes:

Oreo Cookie Balls- 3 Ingredient Easy!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lemon Blossom Cookies

Cornflake Cookies