There’s hardly any dispute over the fact that whoopie pies are delicious, especially when it’s a pumpkin whoopie pie. And some of us want them gluten free.
Did you know it’s Maine’s official state treat? This cake sandwich with frosting in between is a common favorite among Americans, except those with a gluten allergy or celiac disease.
Does it mean that those who have to avoid gluten must give up on pumpkin whoopie pies?
Not at all! Even if you’re new to the gluten free lifestyle, you probably already know that it is possible to stay gluten free by using alternative recipes that use gluten free substitutes so you can enjoy your favorite dessert.
Let’s find out more about pumpkin whoopie pies!
About Whoopie Pies
If you are an American, you surely know about – and love – whoopie pies. This cake sandwich is a classic from New England. It is also an essential part of the Pennsylvania Amish culture.
Interestingly, there’s some controversy associated with the origin of this dessert. No one really knows its exact place of origin.
Besides New England, Maine, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts also claim the parenthood of this dessert. Wherever it might have taken birth, whoopie pie has undoubtedly seen many springs.
History suggests that it has been around since the 1900s! Now, that’s what you call a tradition!
In 2011, a whoopie pie made in South Portland weighed 481.7 kg! It is the largest whoopie pie ever made. The only whoopie pie that came close weighed 90.7 kg!
After selling its giant pieces, the money collected was put to use to send whoopie pies made in Maine to soldiers posted in other countries.
That’s not all. Since 2009, Dover-Foxcroft in Maine has been hosting the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival. Thousands of people from all over Main gather at this festival to celebrate their state treat.
There are competitions at this festival. Bakers in Maine participate in various categories to show off their dessert!
Clearly, whoopie pies are essential for Americans. A chocolate whoopie pie is probably the most popular, as it’s true for all desserts.
But the one flavor that can add a touch of Thanksgiving to whoopie pies is pumpkin. It’s as if the delicious pumpkin pie is taken to the next level in the form of this dessert.
Can Pumpkin Whoopie Pies be Gluten Free?
Like most baked goods, the traditional recipe for whoopie pies also demands wheat flour. This means that this dessert contains gluten, making it unsafe for your consumption if you are required to stay away from gluten due to medical conditions.
But of course, there’s always a way out. There are plenty of recipes that allow you to enjoy whoopie pies without running the risk of getting allergic reactions.
You can substitute gluten-containing wheat flour with any non-gluten flour and make delicious whoopie pies at home.
Who knows? You might find no-gluten whoopie pies in a local bakery!
What about pumpkin whoopie pies?
The first thing to know here is that the key ingredient in this, i.e., pumpkin, does not contain gluten. Fresh pumpkins are obviously the safest.
But if you decide to buy canned ones, make sure to look at the list of ingredients to see if there is any gluten-containing additive.
So, if you use a gluten free recipe that does not use wheat flour, you can enjoy making pumpkin whoopie pies that are free from gluten content.
For people who are allergic to gluten or have celiac disease, pumpkin whoopie pies can be a go-to dessert, as long as you have a fun no-gluten recipe.
Best Gluten Free Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Recipes List
Craving some delicious pumpkin whoopie pies? Why not find the best recipes to make some at home?
After all, as someone suffering from celiac disease, enjoying homemade alternatives to regular gluten-rich foods must have become a common habit for you!
So take a look at the delicious recipes...
Gluten Free Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (with Pumpkin Cookies)
Ingredients – Cookies
- Pumpkin puree: 3/4 cup
- Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
- Natural sugar (coconut): 1/2 cup
- Butter (softened): 1/4 cup
- Maple syrup: 1/4 cup
- Eggs: 2 pieces
- Almond flour: 1 cup blanched almond flour
- Baking powder: 1 tsp
- Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
- Pumpkin spice: 1 tsp
- Coconut flour: 1/4 cup
- Salt: 1/2 tsp
Ingredients – Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream cheese (softened): 8 oz
- Maple syrup: 2 tbsp
- Cinnamon: 1/2 tsp
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to 350 F.
- In a bowl, add eggs, vanilla essence, coconut sugar, pumpkin puree, softened butter, and maple syrup. Whisk them together.
- Add coconut flour, almond flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk again to combine everything.
- Take parchment paper and line a baking sheet with it. Using an ice cream scooper, place six large scoops of the mixture onto the sheet.
- Bake them for 20 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool down to room temperature for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Put the cream cheese, cinnamon, and agave in another bowl and whisk everything together to make a smooth frosting.
- Put this frosting in a piping bag and put this between the cookies to create a sandwich.
- Continue with the rest of the cookies.
Your pumpkin whoopie pies are ready to be enjoyed by everyone in the family without worrying about gluten allergy!
Gluten Free Whoopie Pies With Pumpkin Filling
Ingredients – Cookies
- Almond (blanched) flour: 1 cup
- Cacao powder: 1/4 cup
- Coconut flour: 4 tsp
- Coconut palm sugar: 3 tbsp
- Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
- Coconut out (melted): 2 tbsp + 1 ½ tsp
- Coconut milk (full fat): 1/3 cup
- Egg: 1 piece
- Vanilla extract: 1/2 tsp
- Honey (raw): 1 tbsp
- Chocolate chips (semi-sweet): 1/4 cup
Ingredients – Pumpkin Filling
- Pumpkin puree: 1/3 cup
- Coconut butter (melted): 1/3 cup
- Honey (raw): 2 tsp
- Vanilla extract: 2 tsp
- Cinnamon (ground): 1/2 tsp
- Water: 1 tsp
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to a temperature of 350 F. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, put all the dry ingredients required for the cookies. Mix everything well.
- In another bowl, add the egg, honey, vanilla extract, coconut milk, and coconut extract. Whisk everything together.
- Now, fold the mixture of dry ingredients with the wet mixture gently with a rubber spatula. Don’t mix or whisk vigorously. Also, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Cover the dough and keep it in the freezer for 40 minutes.
- When the dough sets, take small scoops (about 2 tsp each) of dough and place them on the baking sheet. They should be 2 inches away from each other. Flatten them gently.
- Bake for 10 min, and let the freshly baked cookies rest on the cooling tray.
- In a bowl, take the ingredients of the filling and whisk them to combine everything.
- Take two tsp of the filling for two cookies for a sandwich.
Your gluten free, paleo whoopie pies with pumpkin filling are ready!
Gluten Free Chocolate Pumpkin Whoopie Pie
Ingredients – Cookies
- Gluten free flour blend: 1 cup
- cocoa powder: 1/4 cup
- Granulated sugar: 1/2 cup
- Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
- Kosher salt: 1/2 tsp
- Buttermilk: 1/2 cup
- Butter (unsalted, softened): 1/4 cup
Ingredients – Frosting
- Sugar (powdered, sifted): 1 1/2 cups
- Butter (unsalted, softened): 1/2 cup
- Pumpkin puree: 1/4 cup
- Cinnamon: 1/8 tsp
- Nutmeg: 1/8 tsp
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to a temperature of 350 F.
- In a bowl, add sifted gluten free flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
- Add buttermilk, butter, and egg to this dry mix and whisk everything for a smooth mixture. But do not mix too vigorously.
- Using a cookie scoop, take some batter and place it on the cookie sheet. Repeat, leaving 3-inch gaps between each dollop of cake batter.
- Bake the batch for 10-14 min, until you have small bouncy cakes. Let them sit on the cooling rack for some time.
- In another bowl, mix sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin, and whisk them together. Let this filling chill in the refrigerator.
- Put a dollop of the chilled filling between two small cakes and form a sandwich. Refrigerate them again for about half an hour before you serve them.
So enjoy your delicious pumpkin chocolate whoopie pies that won’t cause any harmful reactions!
Allergy-Friendly Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Ingredients – Cake
- Flaxseed meal: 2 tbsp
- Lukewarm water: 6 tbsp
- Gluten-free flour blend: 2 cups
- Xanthan gum: 1/2 tsp (Not needed if flour blend contains it)
- Baking powder: 1-1/2 tsp
- Cinnamon (ground): 1-1/2 tsp
- Ginger (round): 1/4 tsp
- Pumpkin puree: 1-1/4 cups
- Apple cider vinegar: 1/2 tsp
- Maple syrup/agave nectar: 1/3 cup
- Vanilla extract: 1-1/2 tsp
- Rice milk: 1/3 cup
- Nutmeg (ground): 1/4 tsp
- Grapeseed oil/canola oil: 2 tbsp
- Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
- Salt: 1/2 tsp
Ingredients – Filling
- Sugar (powdered): 3 cups
- Shortening: 3/4 cup
- Vanilla extract: 3/4 tsp
- Non-dairy milk: 2-3 tbsp (divided)
Instructions
- First, preheat your oven to 350 F. In the meanwhile, line two trays with parchment paper.
- Take a small bowl and put a flaxseed meal and water. Whisk and let it soak for 5-10 min.
- In a large bowl, add sifted gluten free flour along with xanthan gum, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Add baking powder and baking soda, and whisk everything for an even mix.
- In another bowl, put pumpkin puree, maple syrup, milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract, and mix everything.
- Give the soaking flaxseed meal a vigorous mix to get a gelatinous batter. Add this to the wet ingredients and combine.
- Using a spatula, fold the wet batter into the dry mix gently. Whisk and combine.
- Using a scoop, take portions of the batter and place them on the baking sheet. Flatten them slightly.
- Bake for 12-14 min until you get delicious little cakes. Let them sit on the cooling stand for some time.
- To make the filling, take the shortening in a bowl and keep whisking. Add powdered sugar, vanilla essence, and 2 tbsp of rice milk. Keep whisking.
- If you notice dryness in the mix’s texture, add 1 tbsp milk and keep whisking until your mixture turns light and fluffy. Whisk for a little while more.
- Take two of your small cakes and place the fluffy mixture between them to make your allergen-free whoopie pies!
- These whoopie pies will taste perfect if you refrigerate them for a while.
Enjoy with no worries!
Vegan Whoopie Pies
Ingredients – Cake
- Almond flour: 1/2 cup
- Lemon juice/apple cider vinegar: 3/4 tsp
- Baking soda: 1 ½ tsp
- Baking powder: 1/2 tsp
- Flax eggs: 2 tbsp flaxseed meal
- Water: 5 tbsp
- Avocado oil: 1/4 cup
- Agave nectar/maple syrup: 1/3 cup
- Applesauce (unsweetened): 3/4 cups
- Vanilla extract: 1/2 tsp
- Sea salt: 1/4 tsp
- Cocoa powder (unsweetened): 1/2 cup (heaping)
- Almond meal: 1/2 cup
- Oat flour: 1/4 cup
- Coconut sugar: 1/3 cup
- Gluten-free flour blend: 3/4 cup (heaping)
Ingredients – Filling
- Coconut cream: 2 14-ounce cans
- Pumpkin puree: 1/3 cup
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, take the coconut cream and pumpkin puree. Whip it and put it in a piping bag. Set this to chill in the refrigerator.
- In another bowl, add almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and baking soda. Stir everything together.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the water and the flaxseed meal. Set it aside and let it soak for about 5-10 min to make the flax egg.
- Add coconut sugar, maple syrup, and oil. Whisk well to combine.
- Add vanilla essence, salt, and applesauce, and combine. Next, put the milk mixture and whisk again for about a minute to combine everything.
- Finally, add cocoa powder, oat flour, almond meal, baking powder, and gluten flour. Combine everything and let the final better sit in the refrigerator for about 20 min.
- Take scoops of the chilled batter and put them on the baking sheet, leaving about 1-inch gaps between them.
- Flatten the dollops slightly and bake for 10-14 min, until you notice slight dryness around the edges. Let the cakes sit on the cooling rack for a while.
- Take the piping bag out of the fridge and pipe the pumpkin-coconut cream in between two cakes to make your dessert sandwich.
- Refrigerate the vegan pumpkin whoopie pies.
Enjoy the dessert with everyone!
Buying Gluten Free Pumpkin Whoopie Pie
For people with celiac disease, making pumpkin whoopie pies at home is probably one of the safest options. In fact, for most people with gluten allergy or celiac disease, making non-gluten alternatives at home is a habitual thing.
But what if you wish to buy some pumpkin whoopie pie from the store?
You might be able to find local bakeries that will offer you delicious pumpkin whoopie pies with no gluten content in them.
If a bakery claims that it makes gluten free desserts, the recipes they follow contain no wheat flour. However, how gluten free are they? That is the main question.
When it comes to a packaged product, a “GF” label on the pack means that it has been tested for gluten content, and the results have shown that it contains less than 20 ppm of gluten.
It also means that the facilities are gluten free. However, when it comes to a bakery, the same assurance may not be there.
It’s possible that the bakery has adopted gluten free recipes. However, there is always a possibility that they are using additives or other ingredients that are not labeled gluten free.
So, such ingredients and additives can add small amounts of gluten to your dessert, and the bakery may not even know about it.
Another huge possibility in a bakery is that of cross-contamination. This is especially true if the bakery also makes treats that contain gluten-rich flour, additives, or other ingredients. They might be using the same mixing bowl, whisk, food processor, spatula, baking tin, or more for both types of food items.
Some bakeries and restaurants take full responsibility for going completely gluten free. At least, they have separate arrangements for the same. In such an establishment, you can enjoy your favorite dessert without worrying about getting allergic reactions from small amounts of gluten added by contamination.
However, for other eateries, you will need to make sure that the arrangements are suitable and safe for you.
Ideally, they should either have separate cooking, preparation, or serving utensils for customers allergic to gluten. They must also pay attention to proper washing and avoid double-dipping completely.
Final Lines
Pumpkin whoopie pies are delicious desserts that you can customize to fit your gluten free life.
It is hard to find a bakery that offers completely gluten free pumpkin whoopie pies because you can’t know whether the eatery has the ideal circumstances to produce non-gluten desserts without contamination.
Making them at home is the best way to enjoy this American favorite. There are plenty of recipes that you can use at home.
You can easily make a batch of cakes and frosting required for pumpkin whoopie pies in advance. They will last for up to 2 days. Refrigerate them and enjoy them whenever you want!
More Posts for You:
