Strawberry Whoopie Pies

Super soft and cake-like, but still a cookie at heart! What you’ll love most of all (besides the pretty pink color) is the sweet marshmallow filling. Perfect for the girly girl in your life.

What You’ll Need

Cookies

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 270 grams
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-ounce box strawberry-flavored gelatin, about 5 ½ tablespoons
• ⅓ cup whole milk, 2% is fine if that’s what you have on hand

Filling

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup marshmallow cream
• ¼ cup chopped strawberries, these are optional and mostly just for looks, totally up to you.

Equipment You’ll Need

You definitely need two baking sheets. If you have a quarter-cup cookie scoop, that’s perfect for this recipe. If you don’t have one, just use a quarter-cup measuring cup.

Instructions

Preheat the oven

Preheat the oven to 375°, but first arrange your baking racks. You’ll want one rack in the upper third of the oven and another in the lower third.

If you have parchment paper on hand, that’s the easiest option; but if not, just spray generously with non-stick spray.

Whisk the dry ingredients

Get out a medium bowl and whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cream the butter and sugar

Our next step is to beat the butter and sugar together. Use a stand mixer if you have one, but a hand mixer works fine if you don’t.

Use medium speed and beat the ingredients until they are very light and fluffy. You should see them change color slightly. This can take three to five minutes.

Add the egg and vanilla

Next, we’ll add the egg and vanilla. A room-temperature egg is best, but if you’ve forgotten to take it out of the fridge, just drop it in a small bowl of warm water for a couple of minutes, and it will warm up.

Add the egg and vanilla, then mix until combined. It should take about 45 seconds to a minute.

Add strawberry gelatin powder

Next, add the strawberry gelatin powder and mix until well combined, about 30 seconds.

The whole mixture should be smooth and a beautiful, bright pink.

Alternate flour and milk

To finish the batter, we’re going to add the dry ingredients to the butter-and-sugar mixture, but not all at once. Add half, gently mix it in, add the milk, add the remaining half, and mix just until no streaks of flour remain.

You don’t want to overbeat these. Just mix until it is combined.

Scoop the batter and bake

Now it’s time to scoop these out onto the baking sheet. You need to give them plenty of room, at least 2 inches in each direction, because they will spread a lot.

Bake them for 12 to 14 minutes. You want them lightly browned, just on the bottom, but overall they should look pink, not brown. Be sure to rotate the pans halfway through. That means whichever one is on the bottom rack goes on the top, and vice versa.

Cool completely

Let them cool right on the baking sheet for a minute or two. If you try to move them too soon, they’ll fall apart because they’re so soft.

Next, move the little cakes onto a cooling rack and let them cool completely (they must be cooled completely so the filling doesn’t melt and spread off the cookies).

Now you can start making the filling.

Beat the filling base

Making the filling is almost the same as making buttercream. We’re going to beat the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until it’s nice and smooth.

Just a minute or two is all you need, as long as your butter is at room temperature.

Add the marshmallow cream

Next, add the marshmallow cream.

Just takes about 30 seconds of mixing.

Fold in the strawberries

If you’re adding strawberries to the buttercream, chop them first, then pat them dry.

Gently mix them into your finished filling.

Fill the cookies

Finally, the fun part. Remember that you’re spreading the filling on the flat surface of the cookie. You’re basically going to flip them upside down and spread the filling on the bottom.

Then sandwich the other flat part, facing down, so that both domed tops face outward.

chill and serve

Pop these in the fridge until they’re ready to serve.

They’re perfect for a little girl’s party, either as a cake alternative or as a party favor. They’re also great in a lunch box; you can pop them in, frozen and tightly wrapped, and they’ll defrost perfectly by lunchtime.

Storage Instructions

You can make the components a little ahead of time and assemble them on the day of the party. Be careful, though, because the cakes are very soft and can soften even more in the refrigerator. What I prefer to do is bake them, let them cool at room temperature, make the filling, put the filling in the fridge, and then, about an hour before the party, assemble everything and refrigerate it. That way, it isn’t sitting fully assembled in the fridge for too long.

These freeze just fine when fully assembled. If I have any leftovers, I wrap them in plastic wrap, place them in a freezer bag, and then let them defrost at room temperature. It works just fine for things like snacks or lunch boxes, although I might not necessarily do it this way for a party.

Questions and Troubleshooting

More whoopie pie recipes

• Oatmeal Whoopie Pies
• Vanilla Whoopie Pies
• Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies