It is strawberry season here in the north east, and what better way to celebrate than making a batch of strawberry shortcake whoopie pies with soft and cake-like Amish sugar cookies (no chill), that are packed with strawberries and filled with a dreamy fresh strawberry buttercream frosting?! Growing up in the old order Amish we had a lot of whoopie pies as treats for school lunches, benefit auctions etc. These strawberry shortcake whoopie pies are an elevated Amish sugar cookie whoopie pie that brings back all the fun summery memories in one delicious treat! If you love whoopie pies (aka gobs or sandwich cookies), be sure to try out my recipes for Amish chocolate whoopie pies, Amish pumpkin whoopie pies or Amish sugar cookie whoopie pies.
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Strawberry Shortcake Whoopie Pies (made with Amish sugar cookies)
Equipment
- baking sheets (linked below)
- Mixing bowl (linked below)
- measuring cups (linked below)
- Piping bags (linked below)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening Crisco
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar packed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk *see note
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour (leveled)
- 1 oz. freeze dried strawberries broken into smaller bits
- 1-1.5 batch fresh strawberry buttercream frosting *see note
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
- Cream butter, shortening and sugars together until smooth and well combined. Add room temperature eggs, buttermilk and extract. Whisk (or mix with a hand mixer) the wet ingredients until well combined.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the flour is completely incorporated and no lumps remain. The sugar cookie dough should be smooth and silky, and should be a cross between cake batter and chocolate chip cookie dough. Gently fold in 1 oz. freeze dried strawberries (optional).
- Drop the sugar cookies (with a tablespoon or ice cream scoop) onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until the center of the cookies are set and the cookies have lightly browned on the edges.
- Cool the sugar cookies completely, then pipe fresh strawberry frosting on the bottom half of the whoopie pie and place the second half on top, sandwiching the fresh strawberry frosting between. Wrap with saran wrap (cling film) and store at room temperature for several days or freeze for up to several months.
Notes
Equipment needed for these Strawberry Shortcake Whoopie Pies:
- Baking sheets I like to use my Nordic ware baking sheets for baking these whoopie pies on. So far Nordic ware baking sheets have been the best quality for my family and I (not an ad).
- Mixing bowl A mixing bowl is needed for combining the batter/dough for these strawberry shortcake whoopie pies.
- Measuring cups I prefer to use my stainless steel measuring cups for measuring out the ingredients needed for these shortcake whoopie pies.
- Piping bags A piping bag or spatula will be needed to pipe/spread the fresh strawberry frosting onto the sugar cookies for these whoopie pies. I like to use a Wilton 2D tip for my whoopie pie frosting.
- Parchment Paper I recommend using parchment paper to line the cookie sheets before baking these sugar cookies. These sugar cookies are more cake-like, which makes them harder to remove from an unlined baking sheet. Using parchment paper is also useful for lifting the cookies to check the bottoms for doneness.
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Ingredients needed for these Strawberry Shortcake Whoopie Pies: Freeze dried strawberries (optional), flour, sugar, shortening (you caught me, I made the mistake of adding 1 cup instead of 1/2 cup, but thankfully it didn’t change the texture of the whoopie pies much), buttermilk, brown sugar, eggs, butter, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla extract.
For the Fresh Strawberry Frosting: Butter, confectioner’s sugar, fresh strawberry puree, salt and vanilla extract.
Step 1: Cream butter, shortening and sugars together until smooth and well combined. Add room temperature eggs, buttermilk and extract. Whisk (or mix with a hand mixer) the wet ingredients until well combined.
Why should butter and the eggs be room temp?
Room temperature butter is a lot easier to cream into the sugars, but also helps to give these strawberry whoopie pies their soft and fluffy texture. If the butter is too warm it will create a denser cookie. Room temperature eggs are crucial to help prevent the butter from seizing back up due to being exposed to the cold. Likewise, the batter will also curdle if the buttermilk is added while cold. This can also be fixed by adding flour and mixing it well after each cup of flour is added.
Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the flour is completely incorporated and no lumps remain. The sugar cookie dough should be smooth and silky, and should be a cross between cake batter and chocolate chip cookie dough. Gently fold in 1 oz. freeze dried strawberries (optional).
Step 3: Drop the sugar cookies (with a tablespoon or ice cream scoop) onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until the center of the cookies are set and the cookies have lightly browned on the edges.
Why won’t the dropped sugar cookies hold their shape on the baking sheet?
If the strawberry sugar cookies don’t hold their shape on the cookie sheet and are too wet, then you will need to add more flour. On the flip side, be sure not to add too much flour or the cookies will end up being dry.
How do I know when the strawberry sugar cookies are done baking?
Getting just the right bake on these sugar cookies takes some practice. Some helpful tips I have learned from making many batches of these sugar cookies, is that as soon as the cookies are set in the center and dry on the tops with a light brown on the bottom, then they are ready to pull out of the oven. You can let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for a minute or two, then they will continue baking a bit. If the sugar cookies are too brown on the bottom and edges, they also turn out dry. You can use the finger test and gently touch the center of the cookies (with caution as they may be hot). If the cookie collapses away from your finger tip, then it needs a few more minutes. If the cookie keeps its shape when lightly touched, it is ready to cool.
Step 4: Cool the sugar cookies completely, then pipe fresh strawberry frosting on the bottom half of the whoopie pie and place the second half on top, sandwiching the fresh strawberry frosting between. Wrap with saran wrap (aka cling film or plastic wrap) and store at room temperature for several days or freeze for up to several months.
Feel free to pin this recipe for later and tag me on Instagram to show off your own creation!
