Gluten-free Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies

So, this whoopie pie recipe started off looking like a disaster, or so I thought. But looks can be deceiving, and these gluten-free carrot cake whoopie pies ended up being the best carrot cake whoopie pie I have ever had! The cookies are soft and flavorful and the filling is creamy and light, which makes these whoopie pies the best carrot-containing dessert since carrot cake! Honestly, even if you aren’t a carrot fan, or a carrot cake fan, or an any vegetable fan, you still must try these whoopie pies. They won’t disappoint!

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What are Whoopie Pies?

You may be wondering, what are whoopie pies? I wondered that myself when I made these carrot cake whoopie pies. Besides being delicious cookie sandwiches that are irresistibly tempting, what else are they?

To start with, whoopie pies can go by a variety of names, including black moons, gobs, or a BFO (big fat oreo). It is also debated on whether or not they are a cookie, cake, pie, or sandwich. Either way, a whoopie pie has historically been documented as consisting of two round shapes made from a cake like batter with a creamy filling in-between.

Whoopie pies actually have a somewhat pioneerish beginning. They are thought to have originated in Amish communities where Amish families would pass down cherished recipes from generation to generation. Amish wives would make the sandwiches out of leftover cake batter and leftover cake frosting. Then, when the Amish husbands would find them in their lunch boxes, they would exclaim “Whoopie!”.

While many states lay claim to being the originators of the whoopie pie, Maine has gone the farthest with its claims.

• Whoopie pies are Maine’s official ‘state treat’.
• Maine celebrates Whoopie Pie Day (3rd Saturday in June) and has an annual whoopie pie festival.
• It is also home to the largest whoopie pie, which weighed over 1,000 pounds!

A Healthy Alternative

While these gluten-free carrot cake whoopie pies may not hold true to the traditional cake batter cookies, they are still pretty close and hit all the other marks for qualifying as a whoopie pie. Two round shapes, check. Creamy filling, check. Sweet flavor, check. Exclaim ‘whoopie’ when you get to have one, check!

The carrot cake flavor throws a slight deviation to the usual chocolate flavor of whoopie pies, but bakers take liberties, and now you can find all different kinds of flavors of whoopie pies! Aside from the traditional chocolate whoopie pies, these carrot cake flavored ones are definitely one of my top favorite whoopie pie flavors!

The Amish would only make whoopie pies on special occasions, and only if they had leftover cake and frosting. I decided to make my whoopie pies a little healthier so that you could have them more often! Check it out, they fit perfectly into many different diet restrictions!

• gluten-free
• corn free
• tree nut free
• dairy-free option
• made with low inflammation flours
• contain a vegetable (had to include that one)
• use a slow-metabolizing sweetener to reduce blood sugar spikes

Not to mention they are pretty simple to make and really fun to assemble!

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The Dairy-free Filling

Carrots and cream cheese go together like peanut butter and jelly. That’s why I just had to come up with a cream cheese filling for these carrot cake whoopie pies. While frosting would taste good in these too, cream cheese seemed like the perfect match to the oat and carrot cookies.

Thankfully, making a dairy-free AND nut free cream cheese filling is simple with Daiya cream cheese spread. You have probably heard me mention Daiya cream cheese before (maybe in my grain-free carrot cake recipe) so you probably already know how much I love this stuff! Of course, if you are not dairy-free or tree nut free, you could easily use traditional cream cheese or make a cashew cream cheese. But for those of us who are dairy and nut free, Daiya cream cheese is a life saver! I can find Daiya cream cheese spread at Meijer and my local co-op grocery store.

When making the filling for these whoopie pies, I just creamed together the cream cheese spread, some organic butter (you can use coconut oil instead), a little powdered coconut sugar, and a splash of vanilla. It turned out creamy, sweet, and flavorful, just what I wanted for these whoopie pies.

To get the whoopie pie filling looking ‘perfect’, here’s the trick I used. Put the cream cheese mixture in a plastic bag. Snip off one corner of the bag leaving a fairly large hole. Then pipe the cream cheese around the outer edge of one cookie, filling in the center once you have gone all around the edge. Then place the other cookie on top and press down just slightly to get them to stick together. This gives the whoopie pie filling a smooth, rounded look. Perfect and easy!

Recipe Tips

While whoopie pies may sound challenging to make, they are actually quite simple. Some whoopie pie recipes that I have made are time consuming as well, however, I found that this recipe didn’t take me long at all. Here are a few tips to ensure that the whoopie pie making goes smoothly!

• The butter or coconut oil should be almost completely melted so that the batter has the right amount of moisture.
• I don’t recommend any liquid substitutes for the coconut sugar, maple syrup or honey would make the batter too moist.
• Arrowroot flour can be substituted for the tapioca flour in this recipe if neccessary.
• Room temperature eggs are important for holding these cookies together, for that reason I don’t recommend trying to use an egg substitute.
• You can customize the spices in these cookies to your desired flavor. The spices I added were just the right amount of flavor to compliment the carrots and oats in the cookies.
• The batter may seem a little crumbly when you are scooping out the cookies but the cookies hold together nicely once they are baked.
• If your batter seems to have too much liquid in it, let it rest for a few minutes. The oats will help absorb the moisture.

Gluten-free carrot cake whoopie pies are the perfect allergy-friendly dessert for an Easter celebration, birthday party, or just any day that you need something that will make you say “Whoopie!”. I love the carrot and oat cookies paired with the dairy-free cream cheese filling, they provide the perfect taste and texture for an oatmeal whoopie pie!

Where to Find the Ingredients

• Navitas coconut sugar ($4.99)
• Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free rolled oats ($6.19)
• Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour ($3.49)
• Pamela’s baking powder ($2.99)
• Supplies: cookie baking sheet, cookie scoop

These gluten-free carrot cake whoopie pies will not disappoint! A traditional Amish recipe with a healthy spin and a unique flavor, these whoopie pies will even make picky vegetable eaters think twice before refusing one of these treats! They are allergy friendly too, so you can enjoy a gluten-free dessert with no regrets.

Make sure you also check out these pumpkin oatmeal monster cookies or zucchini cookies for some more vegetable-based oatmeal cookie recipes!

by Alexa

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