Pistachio Whoopie Pies
We have a new contender for best whoopie pie!
If you’ve grown up with whoopie pies then you know how good they are. The cake-like texture of the “cookies” and the simple vanilla flavor of the filling. It’s just perfect! While the usual is to have chocolate cookies this recipe is a change of pace with pistachio instead.
There is some pistachio pudding mix for flavor and texture, but there’s also plenty of chopped pistachios as well. At first I had my doubts that they would have a good flavor, but trust me when I say that these are a pistachio-lover’s dream sandwich cookie.
The batter is more like a cake batter than cookie dough, but that’s all part of the plan. The end result is that they are light, fluffy, and spread to the correct size during baking.
The pudding mix will add some green color, but I added a few drops of extra food coloring for a subtle green color. This is completely optional, but resulted in a nice, mellow shade of green.
Then fold in the chopped pistachios and drop by spoonfuls onto lined baking sheets. The parchment paper here really is required. I tried it without it for one batch and found that even using a non-stick pan they stuck a bit. Also, make sure to space them out. For a 9″x13″ pan I found that I could fit 6 on each, which meant I had to do multiple rounds in the oven. It was worth it, though, to have perfect edges.
Allow the cookies to cool while you mix up the filling, which has marshmallow fluff as its main ingredient.
The photo above is how not to do the filling! Dear reader, it was hot in the kitchen when I made these and I was overly ambitious with how much filling I thought each pie could hold. Learn from my mistakes- don’t over-fill the pies or else the filling might drip all over the place.
I love this variation on the classic whoopie pie and it really does have that wonderful pistachio flavor in every bite. They might be even better than the original!
Pistachio Whoopie Pies
Makes 16 pies
1h prep time
12m cook time
388 calories
Diet: Vegetarian
For the cookies:
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 (3.4 oz) box instant pistachio pudding mix
- 1/2 cup shelled pistachios, finely chopped
- optional: additional green food coloring
For the cream filling:
- 5 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 7-oz jar marshmallow fluff
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add in eggs one at a time mixing between each addition. Stir in vanilla. In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until just combined. Add milk and pudding mix and stir again. Fold in pistachios. For really green cookies add a drop or two of green food coloring (optional).
- Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto lined baking sheet leaving about 2” between each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are just barely beginning to brown on the edges. Transfer to wire rack and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before adding filling.
- When ready to assemble use an electric mixer to whip together filling ingredients until completely smooth. Top bottom of cookie with filling. Add another cookie bottom-first to the filling. Repeat for each whoopie pie.
Recipe adapted from Margin Making Mom.