To be perfectly honest, whoopie pies have kinda sorta always intimated me. They look so fancy and all…ya know?
While the concept of eating one never has intimated me (duh), it’s more the idea for how to make them that has eluded me for a while now.
But, once you break it down, it’s actually not that difficult at all.
And this is a very exciting thing.
Here’s how I look at it.
Think about a whoopie pie as two simple cookies with a frosting of sorts in between.
Doesn’t seem that hard, right?
Good news. They’re actually shockingly easy to make, but look impressive – a trait I highly value.
Now, let’s talk about how these delicious gingerbread whoopie pies are also dairy-free. Because I’m kinda proud of that, too.
First challenge is the frosting. We have to avoid all dairy in the whipped frosting.
While you would normally just go for a buttercream or a cream cheese frosting, non-dairy means non…DAIRY. So adios butter. And goodbye cream cheese.
Instead, I rely on my old friend, full-fat coconut milk mixed with Coconut Dream yogurt. Together, these two non-dairy goodies create a smooth, soft cream that matches the deeper, stronger flavors of the gingerbread cookies perfectly.
Plus: nom.
Usually a gingerbread cookie like this would call for a buttermilk. This is mostly because we need an acid to make the baking powder work its wonders. While you could add in some apple cider vinegar or another acid to help this along, buttermilk is really a perfect addition since it’s a liquid and adds additional creaminess and thickness to the dough. But…the dairy.
So…how about we make non-dairy buttermilk instead?
You with me?
Awesome. Go us.
Plus: it’s totes easy. So there’s that, too 
Shhh.
To make non-dairy buttermilk, just combine any dairy-free milk (I chose coconut milk, but I’d also use almond milk, too) with some freshly squeezed lemon juice. Let this sit for 5 minutes and POOF non-dairy buttermilk. Sweet, right?
Especially during my last pregnancy with Hunter, I suffered from dairy intolerance so I know, first hand, how tricky it is to live a dairy-free life and still enjoy all the foods you love and are craving.
Eating dairy-free is no joke – it’s shockingly difficult to find foods that are free of dairy and is a constant challenge. I am always so amazed at how many foods contain even small amounts of dairy. That’s why I’m thankful for tasty non-dairy products, like Coconut Dream yogurt, which support dairy-free diets.
Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
For those of you who suffer from the same issue and have to (or choose to) avoid dairy, I hope you enjoy these dairy free holiday cookies. For those of you who just want a tasty gingerbread whoopie pie and don’t need it to be dairy-free, this recipe is still totes yummy and worth a try.
Enjoy and happy holidays!
- For The Gingerbread Cookies
- 3¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1¼ tsp. baking soda
- 1½ tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. ground cloves
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup unsulphured molasses
- ¾ cup coconut milk mixed with 2 tsp. lemon juice (for non-dairy buttermilk)*
- For the Coconut Cream Filling:
- 2 cans coconut milk, refrigerated
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 6-oz. container Coconut Dream yogurt
- ¼ cup powdered coconut sugar**
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper then set aside.
- For the dry ingredients, in a large mixing bowl, combine the whole wheat pastry flour, sea salt, baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg and whisk to combine, then set aside.
- For the wet ingredients, in a separate large bowl, combine the unsweetened applesauce, coconut sugar, an egg, melted, cooled coconut oil, unsulfured molasses plus non-dairy buttermilk (which can be made by combining a cup of coconut milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice and letting it sit for 5 minutes).
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, mix until well combined and smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and continue to mix until smooth.
- Drop a heaping tablespoon of the dough onto a baking sheet. Make sure to leave enough space in between them and try to get the amounts as equal as possible.
- Place into the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges start to crispen.
- Then, remove from the oven and carefully transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
- While the cookies are cooling, make the cream filling.
- Remove the hardened liquid from two cans of refrigerated full fat coconut milk and place into a large mixing bowl, along with vanilla extract.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer again, mix this together until it’s smooth and creamy.
- Add in a container of plain Coconut Dream and continue to mix until combined.
- Slowly add in the powdered coconut sugar (which can easily be made by blending together a cup of coconut sugar with 1 tbsp. of arrowroot starch in a kitchen blender until the sugar is fine, like powdered sugar).
- To assemble the whoopie pies, grab one of the cooled gingerbread cookies and spread the coconut sweet cream all over the bottom side, reaching all the way to the edges.
- Then, gently top with another cookie, flat side down, to create the whoopie pie.
** To make powdered coconut sugar, blend together 1 cup of coconut sugar with 1 tbsp. of arrowroot starch until the sugar is fine, like powdered sugar. Use ¼ cup of this mixture in this recipe.
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