Birthday Cake Whoopie Pies with Vanilla Filling

These vanilla whoopie pies are sure to bring a smile to your face! Funfetti, birthday cake-flavored soft cookies sandwich a light and fluffy vanilla marshmallow filling for the ultimate dessert great for kids and kids at heart. The batter is made from a box of cake mix too so it really is a super simple whoopie pie recipe!

Make a batch of these for birthday parties or for your child to take to school to share with his or her classmates. Or, whip up some as a treat to enjoy for making it through the week.

They're perfect for bake sales and potlucks too. I also include options below on how to change up the flavors and colors to cater to specific holidays. These are really the best whoopie pies--after one bite, I bet you'll agree with me too!

Looking for other delicious dessert recipes that the whole family will love? Be sure to check out my mini banana puddings. They're served in jars so everyone can have their own.

My mini brownie s'mores pies are also individual desserts--no arguing about someone's treat being bigger than the other! And if it's cookies you're after, be sure to check out my praline pecan cookies and pinwheel cookies. Now, let's get back to business. Time to make my whoopie pies!

Ingredients

Before we get started, let's gather the ingredients we need for this recipe:

• yellow cake mix
• instant vanilla pudding
• all-purpose flour
• water
• vegetable oil
• large eggs
• vanilla extract
• multicolored sprinkles
• salted butter
• powdered sugar
• marshmallow fluff
• kosher salt

(See recipe card for quantities.)

Instructions

Now that we've got our ingredients, it's time to get baking!

1. First, make the whoopie pie batter: Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, flour, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract in a heavy duty stand mixer.  Beat on high speed until the batter is smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in the sprinkles.

2. Next, using a small cookie scoop, drop batter onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake at 350°F for 11 to 12 minutes or until the cookies are set and golden brown. Let cool completely.

3. Then, make the vanilla marshmallow filling: Beat the butter in a heavy duty mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the marshmallow cream until smooth. Beat in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Transfer the filling to a piping bag. Snip off the end.

4. Finally, pipe the frosting evenly on the flat sides of half of the cookies. Sandwich the filling with the remaining cookies.

Substitutions

Out of an ingredient or need to make a swap? Here are some suggestions:

• Cake mix - Feel free to swap out any flavor of cake mix instead of yellow cake mix if you'd like. Be aware that this recipe calls for a 15.25-ounce box of cake mix. Some brands have reduced their sizes to 13.25 and using that size will affect the outcome of the recipe.
• Sprinkles - Use your favorite combination of sprinkles. I find that jimmies don't bleed into the batter when they're added whereas nonpareils do.
• Salted butter - If you don't have salted butter, that's okay. Use unsalted butter and just increase the amount of salt in the filling.

Variations

Here are some ways to change up this recipe:

• Chocolate whoopie pies - Use chocolate cake mix instead of yellow cake mix. You can also add 1 tablespoons cocoa powder to the filling to make it chocolate flavored.
• Holiday whoopie pies - Add food coloring paste to the cake batter for whatever holiday you're celebrating. For Valentine's Day, tint the batter pink and use sprinkles that are red, white, and pink. For Halloween, tint the batter orange and use black, purple, green, and white sprinkles.
• Lemon Raspberry Filling - Instead of the vanilla cream filling, try my raspberry and lemon cream cheese frosting.
• Peeps Whoopie Pies - This is a fun from-scratch Easter version of a whoopie pie if you want to give those a try.

Equipment

Here's the equipment you'll need to make this recipe:

• dry measuring cups
• liquid measuring cup
• measuring spoons
• rimmed baking sheets
• heavy-duty stand mixer or handheld mixer
• cookie scoop
• rubber spatula
• pastry bag

Storage

Store these vanilla whoopie pies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

To freeze, wrap each whoopie pie individually in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Frequently asked questions

Recipe guidelines and test kitchen tips

When developing and testing recipes, here are some key things that I do for more success in the kitchen:

• Be sure to use dry measuring cups for things like flour, sugar, and mayonnaise and a liquid measuring cup for things like water, milk, and broth.
• When measuring dry ingredients like flour and powdered sugar that can pack down, spoon the ingredient into a dry measuring cup and level with a knife as opposed to scooping the measuring cup into the ingredient.
• I test and develop recipes using a standard electric oven and standard gas stovetop. Be aware that if you use an electric stovetop or convection oven, your bake times will be different.
• When recipes call for kosher salt, I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

Food safety

Finally, don't forget to keep these food safety tips in mind when making this recipe:

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat or eggs
• Wash hands after touching raw meat or eggs
• Don't leave leftovers sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.