Apple Cider Whoopie Pies Recipe (2024)

By Samantha Seneviratne

Apple Cider Whoopie Pies Recipe (1)

Total Time
About 55 minutes, plus chilling
Rating
4(1,377)
Notes
Read community notes

Their name may be fun to say, but whoopie pies aren’t really pies at all but rather soft, cakelike cookie sandwiches. These are inspired by a classic apple cider doughnut and, true to form, are dusted with cinnamon sugar. Apple cider that's been reduced and a bit of apple butter work in tandem to subtly flavor the fluffy cakes, and good old cream cheese frosting makes the ideal filling. For beautiful, uniformly sized cakes, use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the batter for baking. If you don't have one, they might bake up a little wonky, but they’ll still taste delightful.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 to 10 servings

    For the Cakes

    • cup/300 milliliters apple cider
    • cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
    • 1teaspoon baking powder
    • ½teaspoon kosher salt
    • ¼teaspoon baking soda
    • teaspoons ground cinnamon
    • ½teaspoon ground ginger
    • ½teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
    • 6tablespoons/85 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus 2 tablespoons melted
    • ½cup/110 grams packed dark brown sugar
    • 1large egg
    • ¼cup/60 milliliters apple butter
    • ¼cup/50 grams granulated sugar

    For the Filling

    • 6ounces/170 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
    • 3tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 3tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
    • ½teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)

327 calories; 17 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 41 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 230 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Apple Cider Whoopie Pies Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring the apple cider to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Continue to cook the cider until it has reduced to ¼ cup/60 milliliters, about 16 to 18 minutes. Let cool completely. (You can pop the reduced cider in the fridge or freezer to cool faster while you continue.)

  2. Step

    2

    In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat the room-temperature butter and brown sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add egg, apple butter and reduced apple cider, and beat until combined. Your batter may look like it has separated slightly, and that’s O.K. Add the dry mixture and mix just until combined, again scraping the bowl as necessary.

  3. Step

    3

    Portion the dough into 2-tablespoon scoops on 2 parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets, about 1½-inches apart. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until the cakes are puffed and set, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer sheets to racks. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ½ teaspoon cinnamon and the granulated sugar. Brush the tops of the warm cakes with a bit of the melted butter and gently toss them in the sugar mixture. Set aside to cool completely.

  4. Step

    4

    In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and beat to combine. Spread about 2 tablespoons of filling on the flat side of half of the cakes. Top with the other halves.

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

eggplanty

these are wonderful as is. For pete's sake a confection stands on its own. stop stressing about whether or not whoopie pie meets some childhood definition of the word. You can get your ratio or lard or fluff someplace else. And they are not donuts so expect a cake like texture. Cream cheese frosting is always good period. Use apple butter and not some watered down sub. it has more intense flavor plus you can have fun using up the jar.

Jenny Crocker

Easy and do look like the picture, with dense texture. Flavor is heavy on ginger, taste like gingerbread cake, apple flavor is Very subtle. As a pro pastry chef I think they are worth perfecting so next time going to double apple butter and skip the cider reduction, reduce the ginger by 1/2 and use cake flour for more tenderness. Skip the melt butter at end & just toss in sugar. #30 scoop yields 19 pieces = 9 sandwiches. Cream cheese icing makes it! Delicious for snack, dessert or breakfast!

Barb

My bakery makes whoopee pies, and we have done many variations. This particular variation takes the cake. (It didn't hurt that I used apple cider I made using an old-fashioned cider press.). My one addition was to spread a shmear of extra apple butter on the inside of the cake, before adding cream cheese filling - extra luscious and moist and appley. Next time maybe a layer of caramelized apples?

Kara

To achieve a stronger apple taste I would boil some apples with the cider as you reduce it to soften them up and then chop the apples into tiny pieces and add it with the cream cheese filling. I did this and it was amazing.

elle

If you wet the scoop, the batter comes out easily. Just keep a cup with cold water nearby and keep dipping.

Tyler

I loved these. I brought them to a party (in New England!) and they were extremely popular. I made two minor changes: I added an extra 1/4 tsp of cinnamon to the flour mixture and I added 2 extra Tbsp of powdered sugar to the frosting. I'm not a fan of overly sweet things but I still felt like the icing needed a little more sugar.I used apple butter in the recipe and now I'm adding the apple butter to plain yogurt in the morning. It's a great way to use up the rest of the jar!

Melissa

These are delicious! I gently sliced each cake in half after cooling, rather than using one cake for the top and one for the bottom. I prefer a more even filling to cake ratio. But they are good either way!

Andy

YUM! I had substituted apple juice concentrate for boiled cider in a King Arthur Flour recipe (KAF suggestion) and I thought it might work here as well....bingo! Easy Peasy... will make again for Christmas Eve!

Donna

The true frosting for whoopie pies calls for raw egg. Some cant eat or don't want to eat raw egg. I think any good frosting is fine on them if it tastes good. New England baker for 43 years...

Elaine Ely

A note about how well these "hold up." When cooled I put them under my cake dome -- by morning they felt "sticky" -- so I uncovered them for the rest of the day until party time. I put the dough in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before baking which helped with scooping. Recommend making the fillings and dough ahead --then bake the same day you plan to eat them.

Meaghan

I'm just wondering, can I do these a day ahead of when I'm planning on serving them?

Lancaster Girl

Here in Amish Country our Whoopie Pie filling has marshmallow cream and vegetable shortening.

eggplanty

yeah shortening and sugar and more spun sugar via fluff probably taste lighter but it's a different taste than cream cheese. my cakes came out air light and could handle the cream cheese albeit not out of the fridge - let them warm up a little. and there is not a single person that I cook for that preferred lard or vegetable fat and spun sugar. different audiences. these are elegant as is. The author should rename them as cider cakes for adults. laughing.

Lisa Lacourse

Delicious! I would make them again tomorrow!I burnt the first batch of Apple Cider I reduced the heat was to high. My second batch was on much lower and worked just took a little longer.For the filling you have 3 tablespoons of confectioner's sugar down. I used 4 1/2 cups sifted. Great recipe! Thanks!

CJW

These were sooo good but only yielded 10 pies, which went in a flash. Next time I’ll double the recipe. My first try, I followed the recipe as written and the cakes were super flat. The second time around I skipped the cider reduction, doubled the apple butter, used cake flour (did 1.5 cups 3 TBSP) and chilled the batter 25 minutes before scooping. I also used a 1.5 tbsp scoop. The cakes are so sweet, so I really liked the tartness of the frosting. Got rave reviews!

Deborah Cohan

These were wonderful. I used 1/4 cup of boiled apple cider syrup instead of making it from scratch. I did make the apple butter from scratch as my local market didn’t have it. I also forgot to add the ginger to the cakes so I just added it to the filling. I was very happy with the results and will make again.

Patti

Fun and good, but not great. Little apple flavor, mostly cinnamon.

Deborah T.

Can't say I loved these. The first batch flattened out so much they were tossed. I chilled the dough for the second batch and they were passable (at least they puffed and held their shape).I think 2 tbs. is just too big to eat doubled, so I made mini pies (1 tbs. for the pie, less filling, and a shmear of apple butter on one half). I think reducing the cider is a waste of time. I also sprinkled cinnamon sugar on them before baking, to avoid the extra butter.

Phil S

Surprisingly flavorless as written. After tasting the filling, I added some apple butter and doubled the vanilla, and it’s still remarkably bland.

HMH

These are excellent--a great addition to a fall lineup of baked goodies. I made two "improvisations" that our family really enjoyed:1. I made two reductions of apple cider and added one to the batter as indicated and one to the filling, which made it extra tangy and delicious.2. I also made a quick salted caramel sauce and drizzled some in the middle (cookie, filling, caramel, cookie). This added a salty counterpoint to the sweetness.

photoglg

Standard rule, make the recipe as written then decide what you want to add or change. But as written I don't understand why you'd even want to. People nearly passed out after eating them they were so good! Where I am from, Western PA, these are called GOBS not whoopie pies, the filling is a cream, not marshallow. Legend has it that these were a hand desert wrapped in paper for coal miners. I've made my fare share of GOBS and can attest this is one of the best recipes I've tried.

Mom24

Does anyone know if KAF's Boiled Cider would work instead of reducing the cider? I have some and I'd love to use it up.

Amy F

These were really good. Everyone that tried them, loved them.

Kathryn

You can purchase apple juice concentrate in the freezer section in your grocery store. In baking, you're not going to notice the difference in taste. What you don't use, you can put in a container and re-freeze. It's handy to have. I use it in an apple stuffed crown roast pork.

Amy C

I didn’t have apple butter so I substituted one apple, peeled and grated. Perfection.

O

Amazing! The cream cheese frosting in this recipe isn't as sweet as a lot of other cream cheese frostings, but it balances out the very sweet cookies. I will definitely be making these again!

Nancy

How about cups ounces not grams milliliters??

Garnet

I made them exactly as the recipe instructed. I made 9.5 pies. And they are so so yummy!!

April

Big hit at Thanksgiving! In case anyone is wondering they freeze beautifully.

lori k

These were a huge hit at Thanksgiving! They have already been requested for next year.Here were my adjustments:-didn't have apple cider when baking, so doubled the apple butter-chilled the portioned dough for 30 minutes before baking-froze the cookies after baking for a week and thawed Thanksgiving morning, then frosted immediately before serving

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Apple Cider Whoopie Pies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you substitute apple cider for apple juice in a recipe? ›

(When we tested the pH level of both liquids, the cider had a lower pH than the apple juice, confirming its higher level of acidity.) The bottom line: When it comes to cooking, don't swap apple juice for cider.

Why do whoopie pies get sticky? ›

Why are my whoopie pies sticky? Since these whoopie pies use pumpkin puree, they're quite moist and can become sticky when left at room temperature. Keep the whoopie pies in the fridge once they've cooled to room temperature to prevent them from becoming sticky.

What is the difference between a whoopie pie and a gob cake? ›

There is no difference between a Gob and a Whoopie Pie, different regions simply refer to them by different names. In fact, several different states claim that the Whoopie Pie originated from them (both Maine and Pennsylvania make strong cases, and as a PA resident guess who I'm siding with).

Why is Maine famous for whoopie pies? ›

According to local lore, the first whoopie pies were created by Maine farmers' wives who would use leftover cake batter to make small, portable treats for their husbands to take with them to work. Over time, these small treats grew in popularity, and the whoopie pie became a beloved part of Maine's culinary heritage.

Does apple juice and apple cider taste the same? ›

Apple cider is fresh, unfiltered, and often unpasteurized. It's also considered a seasonal drink and can be hard to find outside of the autumn months. Apple juice, on the other hand, is filtered and pasteurized, which gives it a longer shelf life, a sweeter taste, and a smoother texture.

Why does apple cider taste different than apple juice? ›

Apple juice and apple cider are both pressed fresh apples, but that is where the similarities stop. The Kitchn states that apple juice is filtered and has added preservatives such as sugar. This makes apple juice sweeter and allows for a longer shelf life.

What is the filling in whoopie pies made of? ›

Marshmallow Creme or Marshmallow Fluff work here. Marshmallow creme has a slightly thinner consistency than fluff, so you may need to add a bit more powdered sugar to sufficiently stiffen it up. Butter – This helps create the creamy filling.

Should you refrigerate whoopie pies? ›

Store the finished whoopie pies in an airtight container. I usually keep them in the fridge (see previous bullet), but many filling/cake combos would be fine at room temperature. I find that after 3 to 5 days they've usually dried out a bit, but they generally keep pretty well.

Are whoopie pies a southern thing? ›

While considered a New England classic and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition, they are increasingly sold throughout the United States. The whoopie pie is the official state treat of Maine (not to be confused with the official state dessert, which is blueberry pie).

What is Elvis Presley pie? ›

Chef Paula Haney shares with Duff the bakery's recipe for the Fat Elvis Pie, which was inspired by Elvis Presley's love of peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches. The pie includes chocolate pastry cream, peanut butter filling and slices of banana in a crust made of graham cracker crumbs, dry roasted peanuts and pretzels.

What is the difference between Maine and Pennsylvania whoopie pies? ›

Experts agree that the biggest difference between a Maine whoopie pie and a Pennsylvania gob is the use of commercial marshmallow Fluff in the Maine version, versus homemade marshmallow fluff in the Amish version.

Can you use a muffin pan for whoopie pies? ›

You can use either pan for whoopie pies and/or muffin tops. It can also be used for eggs (to fit English muffins) and cookies. I'm sure there are other things you can use it for also. Hope this helps.

Is a whoopie pie and a moon pie the same thing? ›

Whoopie Pie vs Moon Pie - Let's start by clearing up a common misperception: Whoopie Pies are not the same thing as a Moon Pie. A traditional moon pie has marshmallow filling sandwiched between graham cracker cookies, and then dipped in chocolate. Sounds good...but it's definitely not a Whoopie!

What is the most eaten pie in the US? ›

Apple Pie. Apple pie is arguably one of the most popular pie flavors. A symbol of America, the apple pie was actually invented by the British. Apple pie is simply made with sliced apples on double-crusted pastry dough.

What is the most popular pie sold in America? ›

The clear winner for the United States as a whole was (not surprisingly) apple pie with more than 27% of sales going to the traditional flavor.

What can I use if I don't have apple juice? ›

White grape juice (since many white grape juices have apple juice as their first ingredient) or pineapple juice also work well to replace apple juice in a variety of baking recipes.

How do I substitute apple cider in a recipe? ›

For each cup of cider, substitute a combination of ¾ cup apple juice and ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce.

What is the difference between making apple juice and cider? ›

It's juice, but unfiltered and sometimes unpasteurized. In unpasteurized apple cider, naturally occurring yeasts can cause fermentation, making the drink slightly fizzy and alcoholic over time. Apple juice in these states, on the other hand, is much more clear and pasteurized.

Does apple cider taste better than apple juice? ›

Apple juice is made from concentrate, a lower quality version of an apple's juice that doesn't deliver the same robust apple flavor as cider. The best way to get to know each drink is to sample a glass of apple juice vs. apple cider. You'll taste the difference right away.

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