These Amish molasses whoopie pies are soft, chewy, and filled with the rich flavor of molasses and warm spices. Made with old-fashioned molasses crinkle cookies and a fluffy vanilla filling, they're the kind of treat that disappears fast.
Each bite is bursting with that nostalgic, spiced sweetness we all love in homemade molasses cookies - but sandwiched together with frosting, they become something truly irresistible.
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What Are Whoopie Pies?
If you've never made whoopie pies before, they're simply two soft cookies with a generous layer of frosting in the middle. (Some people call them "Gobs.") They've been a longtime favorite in Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch kitchens! Once you try them, you'll understand why!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Time-honored Amish tradition - This "Amish molasses whoopie pies" recipe is passed down through generations and is a heartwarming part of Amish baking.
- Warm, spice-kissed flavor - Molasses and spices create a comforting aroma that fills your kitchen with the irresistible smell of home-baked goodness.
- Make-ahead friendly - These cookies freeze beautifully, so keep some on hand for whenever the craving hits.
- Great for sharing - Ideal for fall gatherings, holiday cookie trays, potlucks, or cozy afternoon treats.
Ingredients
- Butter - Adds rich flavor and contributes to a soft, tender texture. Its fat content helps create a melt-in-your-mouth result.
- Crisco Shortening - Helps retain moisture and prevents spreading, which leads to a thicker, chewier texture. Using both butter and shortening strikes the perfect balance between flavor and structure.
- Light Brown Sugar - Sweetens the dough while adding chewiness and depth, thanks to its natural molasses content.
- Light-Tasting Molasses - Gives these whoopie pies their signature flavor -sweet, robust, and slightly earthy. It also adds moisture and chewiness. (Note: the type of molasses you use can noticeably affect the final taste.)
- Eggs - Provide structure, richness, and stability. They help bind everything together while contributing to the overall texture.
- Sour Cream - Adds moisture and a slight tang that balances the sweetness. It also helps create a soft, tender crumb.
- All-Purpose Flour - The foundation of the dough, it provides bulk and structure so everything holds together well.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder - These leavening agents work together to give the dough lift and softness, creating a pillowy texture without making it cakey. (I always use aluminum-free baking powder.)
- Salt - Enhances all the other flavors and keeps the sweetness from becoming overwhelming.
- Ground Cinnamon - Adds a warm, familiar spice that pairs beautifully with molasses.
- Ground Ginger - Brings a mild heat and earthy spice that complements the cinnamon and deepens the flavor.
- Ground Cloves - Just a touch adds depth and a subtle zing, rounding out the spice blend with a classic old-fashioned flavor.
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How to Make Molasses Crinkle Whoopie Pies
- These soft ginger molasses cookies with shortening are easy to make. I mix the dough using my Kitchen-Aid mixer, and let it do the work for me. (If you don't have a stand mixer, you can always mix the batter with a hand mixer until it becomes too stiff, and then finish by hand.)
- Refrigerate the sticky dough for a few hours or overnight before shaping.
- Roll the dough into balls. I use a small cookie scoop (about 1 tablespoon) to create uniform-sized mini whoopie pies. Feel free to scoop or shape the dough to your preferred size.
- Roll each dough ball in sugar (optional - this adds sweetness and a pretty finish).
- Place the sugar-coated dough balls on a well-greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies, being careful not to overbake to keep them soft and chewy. (Overbaked cookies may turn out crunchy instead of chewy.)
- Cool cookies completely on a wire rack.
- Spread or pipe frosting onto one cookie.
- Place a second cookie on top to form a sandwich.
- Wrap each assembled whoopie pie individually in plastic wrap.
- Store the wrapped whoopie pies in an airtight container to keep them fresh. (Molasses whoopie pies freeze well, which helps to keep them fresh. Just thaw and enjoy whenever the craving hits.)
What Kind of Molasses Should I Use to Make Amish Molasses Cookies?
Molasses is a common ingredient that gets used frequently in Amish households. For example, Amish Peanut Butter Spread is often made with molasses. Amish Wet-Bottom Shoofly Pie and Shoofly Cake are both breakfast desserts containing molasses.
And when baking with molasses it's good to use lighter-tasting molasses so that it doesn't overpower all the other flavors. (Unless you love a strong dark molasses flavor.)
Brer Rabbit molasses is great to use for these molasses crinkle cookies. You can use either the full flavor brer rabbit or the mild flavor. But I do not recommend using blackstrap molasses.
I like to use Golden Barrel baking molasses when making shoofly pie, and it can also be used for making these cookies. (It's one of my favorite kinds of molasses!)
King Syrup is another one of my favorites, although technically it's syrup and not molasses. But sometimes I use it in place of molasses. Or I use a combination of both for a milder flavor.
Amish Molasses Cookies
There are many variations of Amish molasses cookies, but most share a common base of molasses and warm spices, which is a classic and delicious combination.
If you enjoy molasses treats, be sure to check out my other recipe for soft and chewy Amish Gingersnap Cookies - they're equally delightful.
This recipe, however, features molasses crinkle cookies sandwiched with creamy icing to make irresistible molasses whoopie pies. Of course, these cookies are delicious on their own too, so feel free to skip the frosting if you prefer to enjoy them as simple, spiced molasses cookies.
Frosting/Filling for Molasses Whoopie Pies
These Amish molasses cookies are delicious all on their own - so if you're short on time or prefer a simpler treat, skipping the frosting still gives you a wonderful, flavorful cookie.
But adding frosting transforms them into classic whoopie pies, making each bite even more irresistible.
You can use your favorite frosting to fill these molasses whoopie pies, but since the cookies are already naturally sweet, it's best to choose a frosting that's not overly sugary. And that's why the traditional Amish whoopie pie filling recipe is my favorite.
The traditional recipe does include raw egg whites - using pasteurized egg whites is a safe alternative. For your safety, I am including a link that informs you of the risk of consuming raw egg whites.
If you'd rather avoid raw egg whites, feel free to fill your whoopie pies with other delicious options like buttercream frosting (such as the one I use for pumpkin whoopie pies), marshmallow filling, or cream cheese frosting.
For a festive holiday twist, try filling them with eggnog buttercream to create a seasonal cookie sandwich everyone will love!
Frequently Asked Questions
A: Yes! You can substitute butter for shortening, though the texture may be slightly less chewy, and butter also spreads more during baking. Butter adds more flavor, while shortening helps keep the cookies soft.
A: Chilling the dough before baking and using a cookie scoop for uniform size helps prevent spreading and ensures soft, thicker cookies perfect for sandwiching.
A: Traditional Amish whoopie pie filling often includes raw egg whites. (I've grown up eating this frosting with raw egg whites all my life, and have never seen anyone get sick from it.) To reduce risk, however, use pasteurized egg whites or choose a frosting alternative like buttercream or cream cheese frosting.
Raw flour can contain harmful bacteria like E. coli, so eating it without cooking carries a small risk. Amish whoopie pie filling uses raw flour (and I've eaten it all my life). However, to make it safer, you can heat-treat the flour by spreading it on a baking sheet and baking it at 350°F (175°C) for about 5 minutes. This kills any bacteria without affecting the taste or texture. (Cool before using.) Alternatively, you can look for specially heat-treated flours sold for no-bake recipes.
A: Absolutely! Wrap assembled whoopie pies individually in plastic wrap and freeze them in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Amish Whoopie Pies
I grew up in the New Order Amish community around Lancaster, PA, where molasses cookies have been a beloved tradition for as long as I can remember.
However, I hadn't experienced molasses crinkle whoopie pies until my sister-in-law from Ohio introduced them to us, and I fell in love with them from the very first bite!
I have several recipes for Amish whoopie pies here on my blog, and it seems they are continuously expanding the flavors.
The most popular flavor is chocolate whoopie pies. But I love oatmeal whoopie pies, pumpkin whoopie pies, chocolate chip whoopie pies, and peanut butter whoopie pies as well. They are all equally amazing, along with these molasses (moist gingerbread whoopie pies)!
I hope you enjoy these chewy Amish molasses whoopie pies as much as my family does! If you try these sandwich cookies, I'd love it if you left a comment and star rating below. Thank you!
📖 Recipe Card
Amish Molasses Crinkle Whoopie Pies Recipe
Ingredients
Molasses Cookies:
- 1 c. butter (softened)
- 1 c. Crisco shortening
- 4 c. brown sugar (loosely filled)
- ½ c. light-tasting molasses
- 4 large eggs
- ½ c. sour cream
- 8 c. all-purpose flour
- 6 tsp. baking soda (2 Tbsp.)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ⅛ tsp. ground cloves
Whoopie Pie Filling:
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 c. Crisco shortening or softened butter
- 4 c. powdered sugar
- 4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp. milk
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp. salt
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening, and brown sugar.1 c. butter (softened), 1 c. Crisco shortening, 4 c. brown sugar (loosely filled)
- Add the molasses, eggs, and sour cream and beat well.½ c. light-tasting molasses, 4 large eggs, ½ c. sour cream
- Add 4 cups of flour, along with the remaining dry ingredients. Mix. Then add the remaining flour and mix until combined.8 c. all-purpose flour, 6 tsp. baking soda (2 Tbsp.), 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 4 tsp. ground cinnamon, ½ tsp. ground ginger, ⅛ tsp. ground cloves
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Scoop the chilled dough into balls and roll them in sugar (you can skip the sugar step if preferred).
- Bake on greased cookie sheets for about 9 minutes. (Do not overbake unless you want crunchy cookies.)
- Scoop onto a wire rack to cool.
- Spread the filling onto half of the cookies and top them with the remaining cookies.
- Wrap the whoopie pies individually in plastic wrap.
- Whoopie pies freeze well, so you can store them in airtight containers in the freezer for up to several months. Remove from the freezer to thaw at least a half-hour before serving.
Whoopie Pie Filling:
- With the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until foamy.3 large egg whites
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix.1 c. Crisco shortening or softened butter, 4 c. powdered sugar, 4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp. milk, 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract, ⅛ tsp. salt
- Whip on high speed until the filling is light and fluffy.
Fern Miller
I can not wait to try this one, wow, love is so delicious.
Anna
Awesome! Let me know how they turn out for you!
Anna
One of my favorite whoopie pies!