These adorable Gingerbread Chocolate Whoopie Pies are soft and cakey, combining flavors of rich chocolate and warm pumpkin spice mix, sandwiched together with sweet Chantilly cream filling!
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If you love these Gingerbread Chocolate Whoopie Pies, try these Gingerbread Latte Sandwich Cookies or Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies!
It's that time of the year again when everything “gingerbread” comes out! After recently making Gingerbread Latte Sandwich Cookies, which were a real hit with friends and family, I decided to extend the creativity to whoopie pies!
Enter Gingerbread Chocolate Whoopie Pies! These soft and cream-filled whoopie pies are shaped into gingerbread men with cute decorations that'll instantly light up a room this holiday season.
Why You'll Love These Gingerbread Men Whoopie Pies
- A cute and fun twist to traditional gingerbread men made from cookie dough.
- The cake-like whoopie pies with sweet Chantilly cream filling makes these an indulgent treat – perfect for those holiday celebrations!
- Have fun with the kids by getting them to decorate these assembled gingerbread chocolate whoopie pies!
If you enjoy gingerbread men recipes, you likely already have most of the ingredients required to make these holiday whoopie pies. With the ingredients on hand and easy step-by-step recipe images provided below, these whoopie cakes will be ready to serve your Christmas guests in less than 40 minutes.
Prepare the gingerbread whoopie cakes ahead of time so that you only need to step away from the festivities to assemble and decorate! They're perfect as a standalone holiday dessert with a glass of creamy milk, mug of hot chocolate or coffee!
INGREDIENT NOTES
- Flour – All-purpose flour is my go-to sturdy flour for baking. You can use a gluten-free blend instead, if needed.
- Pinch of Salt – This enhances the flavors in the whoopie pie dough. Omit the salt if you choose to use salted butter.
- Cocoa Powder – For rich chocolate flavor. You can use sweetened or unsweetened cocoa powder, depending on your preferred level of sweetness.
- Leavening Agents – I use both baking soda and baking powder to help make these whoopie pies fluffy and light.
- Butter – Softened at room temperature for easy mixing. I use unsalted butter in baking, but salted can be used instead if you omit the salt from the ingredients.
- Granulated Sugar – For sweetness. Light brown sugar could also be used.
- Egg – Best to first bring to room temperature for baking.
- Milk – Use full-fat milk for best flavor.
- Vanilla Extract – A small amount in baked treats really enhances the flavors.
- Pumpkin Spice Mix – Either store-bought or homemade. This is completely optional, although I do love the kick of spicy warmth it creates in these gingerbread whoopie pies.
- Frosting – I've used Chantilly cream, which is essentially a combination of whipped cream and powdered sugar, for the frosting.
How to Make Uniform Gingerbread Chocolate Whoopie Pies?
If drawing isn't one of your strengths, you may be wondering how to pipe uniform-looking gingerbread men with the whoopie pie batter!
A helpful hack involves tracing around a gingerbread cookie cutter onto parchment paper and cutting these gingerbread men out. You'll need a large cookie cutter for this.
Place the individual parchment paper gingerbread men on a baking sheet and spray them with non-stick cooking spray. This will make it easier to peel the baked whoopie pie halves off the parchment paper.
Pipe the batter directly onto the parchment paper cut-outs and then bake them. It's okay if your shapes are not perfect – getting equal sizes is what counts here, especially for purposes of sandwiching the halves together.
It's really that simple! Give it a try and let you know how you find it!
DECORATING YOUR GINGERBREAD WHOOPIE PIES
Once completely cool, use piped Chantilly cream to decorate your assembled gingerbread chocolate whoopie pies like I've done.
You could also use melted white chocolate instead of the Chantilly cream. Stick mini white chocolate chips onto the whoopie pies for eyes and buttons, add food coloring to the cream or melted chocolate for some added flare!
MAKE-AHEAD INSTRUCTIONS
Room Temperature Instructions
Bake the gingerbread cake men and allow to fully cool. Store them in an airtight container on the countertop for 2-3 days before you assemble the whoopie pies with the Chantilly cream. I recommend that you only make the cream filling just before you assemble the whoopie pies for best flavor and freshness.
Freezer Instructions
Baked and cooled gingerbread whoopie cakes can be stored in the freezer for up to 2-3 months and thawed at room temperature.
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS
- Refrigeration: Store your gingerbread chocolate whoopie pies in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. They will start to soften the longer they are stored.
- Freezer: You can store these gingerbread chocolate whoopie pies in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. Wrap each whoopie pie in plastic wrap and then store them in a Ziploc bag or airtight container. Thaw at room temperature to eat immediately or in the fridge.
MORE GINGERBREAD RECIPES
Gingerbread Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Ingredients
- 1 + 3/4 cups flour
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice mix optional
- 1 cup creme chantilly whipped cream with powder sugar for the frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
- Sift together the flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder.
- In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer or stand mixer, whisk soft butter and sugar until it gets fluffy.
- Add one egg and whisk until just combined.
- Add dry ingredients and milk to the egg mixture, mix with spatula until combined.
- Mixture will be fluffy and slightly sticky like a very thick cake batter.
- Using piping bag, pipe gingerbread man shaped batter onto prepared baking sheets.
- Cook for 7 minutes until it rises in the middle.
- Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
- Sandwich 2 cakes together with the frosting (creme chantilly).
- Decorate with creme chantilly, you can also use melted white chocolate to decorate.
Recipe FAQs
WHY IS IT CALLED A WHOOPIE PIE?
Legend has it that whoopie pies were originally made from leftover cake batter, and when found in lunch boxes, the lucky recipients would yell out u0022whoopieu0022 in delight! It's a cute story, and whether true or not, the name has managed to stick!
WHAT KIND OF FILLING IS TYPICALLY USED IN WHOOPIE PIE RECIPES?
Marshmallow fluff or buttercream are the two most common types of filling for classic whoopie pies. Today, I'm using Chantilly cream as the filling.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WHOOPIE PIE AND A MOON PIE?
Whoopie pies and moon pies are the same treat, just called by a different name depending on the area. Other names that refer to this scrumptious treat include: black moon, gob, black-and-white, bob, or BFO (Big Fat Oreo).
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