Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies with a Pineapple Coconut Cream Cheese Filling

Making Whoopie is something I've always wanted to do. Hey! I'm talking about Whoopie Pies!  I have lost count as to how many chocolate whoopie pie recipes (with a marshmallow creme filling) I've saved, and have yet to make.

Recently, I saw a Carrot Cake Cookie recipe, and then a light bulb went off. I love carrot cake, and it's been a long time since I've made one. Could I make a Carrot Cake Whoopie Pie?  Of course, I did an internet search, and I'm not the only one who thought of them.  That didn't stop me, though. My mind was made up.  I especially love carrot cake that has raisins and pineapple, and coconut.

How could I incorporate all of my favorite cake ingredients into a whoopie pie?  I decided to add oatmeal, to the batter, for a little extra texture (I'm not fond of really "cakey" whoopie pies).  I debated on adding walnuts or pecans, and I decided to leave them out. Though, they aren't a bad idea.

I'm a self-admitted "Kitchen Gadget Queen", so I have a Norpro Muffin Top Pan.  These are perfect for baking muffins, if prefer to eat just the top of a muffin  These also double as "Whoopie Pie" pans.  You don't have to use this pan, and can use a parchment lined baking sheet-- or a Silpat mat.

The aroma of these cookies had notes of cinnamon, vanilla and spice.  They're lightly browned around the edges, and soft in the middle.   While they cooled, I began to consider what kind of filling I wanted.


I began to think...I had some leftover buttercream frosting, from the Coconut Cake Recipe that I recently made.  I also had leftover toasted coconut.  I have a few jars of my homemade pineapple jam, and that became the filling/frosting.

Of course, you can stick with a plain cream cheese filling (it's on the recipe card at the end of this post).  All I had to do was fill one cookie with frosting, and top it with another.

I'm not gonna lie...these cookies are the size of my hand!

Pretend you don't see the frosting on my finger tip.  K, thanks.

These made eight big whoopie pies.  They need to be sealed, individually, in plastic wrap and refrigerated.  Bring to room temperature (about 1/2 hour) before eating.

TASTING NOTES:  The cookies are delicious, what more can I say? The oatmeals give a great texture, chewy in the middle, slightly crunchy on the outside.  Do you need to make whoopie pies this large? No, not at all!  In fact, I couldn't eat a whole cookie, this size. You can make smaller cookies, and I think these would taste great as stand-alone cookies.   These do taste like carrot cake.  I can honestly say, that you can leave out the carrots, and you'll have a delicious oatmeal cookie.  However, with carrots and oatmeal in them, you can call these "healthy" and think of it as a way to sneak in your veggies. Just sayin'!

Here's the recipe: