Description
These Halloween Whoopie Pies are festive chocolate sandwich cookies filled with creamy buttercream frosting and decorated with colorful Halloween sprinkles. Perfect for spooky celebrations, these soft, moist cakes are quick to bake and fun to assemble, blending rich cocoa flavors with a light, fluffy frosting for a delightful treat.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Chocolate Whoopie Pies
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup hot water (the hottest water from the sink is okay)
For the Buttercream
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
- 5-6 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 dash salt
- 1 cup Halloween sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven and prepare baking sheet: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner and set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients: In a large bowl, combine vegetable oil, brown sugar, and white sugar. Stir together until combined. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and whole milk and stir until just combined.
- Prepare dry ingredients: In another bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Combine wet and dry: Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients while stirring until just combined.
- Add hot water: Stir in the hot water until the batter is fully combined and smooth.
- Portion and bake: Using a 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop, carefully drop batter onto prepared baking sheet, spacing the batter about 2 inches apart to allow spreading. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until the cookie tops look set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool whoopie pies: Let the baked whoopie pies cool on the baking pan for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make buttercream: In a large bowl, cream the unsalted butter and powdered sugar at slow speed until well blended. Add heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt, then beat on medium speed until smooth. Continue beating for 3 to 4 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy. Add 1 to 2 drops of orange (or yellow and red) food coloring and fold gently with a spatula.
- Fill and assemble: Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag or ziplock bag and snip the corner. Flip a cooled whoopie pie cookie over to reveal the bottom and pipe or spread frosting evenly. Top with a matching cookie, domed side up, making a sandwich.
- Add sprinkles and finish: Place Halloween sprinkles on a shallow plate or bowl. Roll the frosted edges of the sandwich into the sprinkles to coat. Place finished whoopie pies on a cookie sheet.
- Chill and serve: Enjoy immediately or refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the frosting to set and chill the pies. Serve chilled for best texture and flavor.
Notes
- Measure flour by spooning and leveling to ensure accuracy and tender texture.
- Spacing the batter well apart on the baking sheet helps prevent cookies from spreading into each other.
- Hot water added to the batter helps enhance the cocoa flavor and ensures a moist texture.
- Using a piping bag helps create neat, even layers of frosting, but spreading with a knife also works.
- Chilling the whoopie pies for an hour before serving makes the frosting firmer and easier to handle.
- Adjust food coloring shades to create your favorite Halloween colors in the frosting.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 whoopie pie
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 30g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 30mg
