I don’t know how I missed the whole whoopie pie thing. I had never heard of them until becoming a food blogger; they were supposed to be the “new cupcake.” I never had them as a kid, and certainly never made them. But I did love Little Debbie snack cakes.
Remember those? They were Hostess’s poor little cousin from the wrong side of town. If Mom was trying to save money, we got Little Debbie in our lunches instead of Ho-Ho’s or Ding Dongs. I confess right here that I loved those little oatmeal cookie sandwiches with the white “creme” inside. God only knows what was in them.
Did you eat whoopie pies? Do you have a favorite snack cake memory?
It’s a bit odd for me to be featuring these, I know, especially since they require some kind of granulated sugar. It’s all the community garden’s fault. We had another bake sale on St. Patrick’s Day, and I made chocolate cupcakes with mint green frosting, which were awesome. And I had frosting left over. And another bake sale coming up. So I decided to make these, using reader Kate’s gluten-free whoopie pie recipe that I renovated early on, which is now vegan. Enjoy!
Suitable for:
vegan, gluten-free, reduced-sugar diets
Not for:
low-sodium or migraine diets
All of our recipes are gluten-free, sugar-free, and made with plant-based ingredients to help you build a healthy life. This is one of a small number of exceptions that features granulated sugar. Suitable for Meatless Monday! Look for midweek posts on meditation, service, and life lessons, helping you create inner balance.
Chocolate-peppermint whoopie pies
Ingredients
Whoopie pies
- 1 cup sweet white rice flour (145 g)
- 1/2 cup oat flour (gluten-free) (50 g)
- 1/2 cup sweet sorghum flour (65 g)
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder (22 g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar (organic) maple sugar, or other natural granulated sugar (185 g)
- 1/3 cup grapeseed oil vegetable oil, coconut oil, melted
- 3/4 cup milk soy or coconut
- 1 eggs 1 tbsp chia seeds plus 3 tbsp water
Minty filling
- 1 cup soy milk
- 3/4 cup soy milk powder (90 g)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (organic) (90 g)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
- 4-6 dates Medjool, soaked
- 1-3 tsp peppermint extract
- 6 drops parsley juice liquid chlorophyll, green food coloring
Instructions
Whoopie pies
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/gas mark 4. Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Sift together the dry ingredients.
- In a large bowl, mix the vanilla, sugar, oil, milk and egg together; add flour mixture slowly, mixing until it's evenly incorporated.
- Using a level wet tablespoon, drop on a parchment-covered cookie sheet. Smooth them to the size and shape you want when baked, using wet fingers or a spatula. These will spread a little. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the tops spring back when pressed and begin to crack slightly. Let cool completely.
Minty filling
- Soak the dates in hot water for at least an hour until very soft. Remove the pits. Melt the coconut oil over low heat (or by placing the jar in a larger container of hot water.)
- Put the granulated sugar in a dry blender and blend until powdered. Remove to a bowl.
- Put the dates in the blender with the soy milk, soy milk powder, peppermint extract, and coconut flour. Blend until very smooth. With the blender running, slowly pour in the coconut oil until well blended and very thick. Add food coloring or chlorophyll until it's the color you want. Scrape out into a bowl and add enough of the powdered sugar to make a frosting consistency.
- Assemble the whoopie pies by spreading a thin layer of frosting on the bottom of one cookie, then sandwiching another cookie on top. Store in the refrigerator in a lidded container, placing waxed paper in between layers of cookies so they don't stick together.
Notes
- 235 calories
- 10 g fat
- 6 g saturated fat
- 2 g monounsaturated fat
- 1 g polyunsaturated fat
- 0 g trans fat
- 0 g cholesterol
- 72 mg sodium
- 86 mg potassium
- 31 g carbohydrate
- 2 g fiber
- 17 g sugars
- 5 g protein
- 6 Weight Watchers Points Plus
[…] Candy Cane Garland from Frosting and a Smile Chocolate Candy Cane Truffles from Your Cup of Cake Chocolate Peppermint Whoopie Pies from Recipe Renovator Easy Christmas Peppermint Patties from Mom on Time Out Dark Chocolate […]
I grew up on those oatmeal creme Little Debbie’s, ate them like there was no tomorrow. :) I too missed out on the whoopee pie thing and only just heard of them upon moving to a city with a Trader Joe’s three years ago. But now, the whoopee is being replaced by the French macaron, it’s all the rage (but I’m not on board yet). I wanted to suggest that your green chlorophyll idea is really spot on for vegan baking, because traditional store-bought food coloring is made from petroleum and always tested on animals. I like natural liquid food coloring from Chocolate Craft, Seelect, Maggie’s Naturals, India Tree, and some ChefMaster colors. They’re derived from plants and veg. Or you can make your own food coloring from boiling fruit and veg at home. Your pies look DELISH! ~Rebecca at “Die, Food Dye!”
I had a couple of macarons in Paris and I confess I didn’t “get” it either. They are super pretty though. Thanks for all the great info and resources about food coloring. I’ll have to check those out!
Love these whoopie pies – I also missed the trend! I also grew up near the Wonder Bread factory in Oakland, then later passed by it to and from my way to work. Oh the tempting smell of that cloudy bread! My favorite treat though was Twinkies, I think we were allowed one or two a year!
Oh I adored Twinkies too! Thanks Lisa!
What gorgeous little cakes… I bet my co-workers would love some of those!
Thanks for the compliment, Karen! Let me know if you make these and take them to work. They’re nice and bite-sized, perfect for work.
These are so pretty. When growing up in the bay area, my mother shopped for day old bread at the Wonder Bread and sometimes would pick up treats. I remember those pies–sort of like apple pie but looks like turnovers. Darn it—I can’t remember what they were called. Anyway, we don’t eat this stuff anymore.
Thanks Bonnie. I love that memory. I know the little pies that you mean, they came in a white waxed paper package and were sitting on a little piece of white cardboard.