Cover Photo Courtesy of Tina Rupp from “Baked New Frontiers in Baking”
The Pumpkin Whoopie Pie tastes even better than the Chocolate Whoopie Pie.
Don’t take my word for it. That’s the pronouncement of those two bakers from Brooklyn, Matt Lewis, and Renato Poliafito. In “Baked: New Frontiers in Baking (Stewart Tabori Chang 2008) they write they were never huge fans of the original—even though you’ll find their recipe for them below this recipe. “We love the concept of two cakey chocolate cookies with a fair amount of cream sandwiched between them but…” They complain that the cream filling has a shortening aftertaste and the cookie is too wet. Here, they created a version so good it was named one of the Top 100 tastes of 2007 by Time Out New York. It’s a soft cakelike pumpkin cookie with a cream cheese filling. You can make them full-sized as Andrew did. Or you can use a melon baller to scoop the dough for a bite-sized Whoopie Pie.
For lovers of Culinary History, the Whoopie Pie story is a doozie.
Two states claim the Whoopie Pie as their own. Maine, where it was named the official State “Treat” amidst much controversy. You can read all about it in the Chocolate Whoopie pie post further down this page. However, Pennsylvania’s claim to the Whoopie Pie seems ironclad. Or is it? There’s the charming version in which Amish mothers used leftover chocolate cake batter and then filled the result with icing. These practical pies were easily transportable to farm fields and school lunch boxes. When the kids found them, they would yell “Whoopie!”.
“Making Whoopies: The Official Whoopie Pie Cookbook”(Down East 2010) has another idea.
Its author, Nancy Griffin, couldn’t find documented evidence in Maine or Pennsylvania. She uncovered the work of one Barry Popik, a Texas researcher who devotes himself to the origins of words. Popik traced the pies to a 1931 ad in a Syracuse, NY newspaper advertising a “Berwick Whoopee pie” made by a bakery in Roxbury, Massachusetts. It sold for 5 cents. Ms. Griffin believes that the name was not derived from the glee of Amish school children but rather from a 1928 show tune “Making Whoopie” by Gus Kahn. Here’s today’s recipe and after it, one for Chocolate Whoopies and that incredible story about Maine’s State Treat. There are just a couple of things to remember. 1. Do not use Pumpkin Pie Filling, use Pumpkin Purée. 2. Do not ice the pies until they are cool or you will melt the cream cheese frosting. And finally, make a lot of them especially if you have kids to entertain on Halloween.
Soft cake-like pumpkin cookies with a delicious cream cheese filling. Perfect for pumpkin lovers and HalloweenPumpkin Whoopie Pies from Baked Brooklyn
Ingredients
Directions
Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Filling from One Girl Cookies
