Pairs of moist cookie-shaped cakes, flavored with banana, crushed pineapple, and chopped pecans sandwich a layer of smooth cream cheese frosting in these hummingbird whoopie pies.
The delicious flavors of the classic Southern dessert, hummingbird cake, are packaged into convenient, individual portions in this whoopie pie recipe. This recipe makes a fun Easter dessert but can be enjoyed year-round, whatever the occasion may be. These whoopie pies also make a great date night dessert!
Table of Contents
Ingredients You Need to Make This Recipe
Hummingbird Cakes
- All-purpose flour. I recommend using good-quality flour with high protein content such as Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur for this recipe. This ensures you get the best texture in your cakes.
- Baking soda. This is one of the leavening agents we use in the cake batter to ensure the cakes rise properly.
- Baking powder. This is the second leavening agent used in the cake batter. The combination of baking soda and baking powder provides the perfect rise to these soft cakes.
- Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. These spices are added to the cakes for extra flavor.
- Salt. A small amount of salt added to sweet recipes highlights the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Granulated sugar. Regular, white sugar is used to sweeten this recipe.
- Vegetable oil. I recommend a light-flavored oil for this recipe such as canola or regular vegetable oil. This is the fat we use to add moisture to our cakes.
- Vanilla extract. I recommend using a good-quality vanilla extract for this recipe to get the best flavor in your dessert. This brand is one of my favorites. Do not use imitation vanilla flavor.
- Eggs. This recipe calls for two large eggs. Do not substitute a different size egg as this could negatively affect the moisture content in the batter.
- Bananas. You need two ripe bananas for this recipe. Bananas should have some visible brown spots and definitely no green. Mash the bananas with a fork.
- Crushed pineapple. We use a half cup of canned crushed pineapple for the recipe. Do not drain the juice.
- Chopped toasted pecans. This recipe calls for ¾ cup of choppedcpecans. You can purchase pecans that have already been chopped or you chop the pecans yourself.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream cheese. You need one 8-ounce pack of room temperature cream cheese.
- Salted butter. This frosting calls for half a cup, or one stick, of softened salted butter. Soften butter by leaving it out at room temperature for at least two hours or overnight if baking the next morining. You can also use unsalted butter - just add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the frosting if doing so.
- Vanilla extract. Use pure, good-quality vanilla for this frosting. Do not use imitation vanilla flavoring.
- Powdered sugar. This ingredient is used to sweeten as well as thicken our frosting. About two cups should work perfectly.
How to Make This Recipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt until combined. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat sugar, oil, and vanilla on medium speed (5-6 on a stand mixer) until combined, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until combined after each addition. Continue to beat on medium speed until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture to the oil mixture and mix until no more dry flour is visible. Fold in mashed banana, pineapple, and pecans with a rubber spatula until just combined into the batter.
Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out batter and carefully level off with a knife. Place batter scoops onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about one inch apart. You should get about 28 cakes, depending on the size of your cookie scoop.
Bake the cakes in batches in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool the cakes on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
While cakes are cooling, prepare the frosting by beating butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Be sure and scrape down the bowl about halfway through to ensure all ingredients get mixed together. Transfer frosting to a piping bag.
Pipe about 2 tablespoons of frosting onto the flat sides of half of the cooled cakes. Place the remaining cakes on top of the frosting, flat side down, and gently press down to sandwich the frosting in between the cakes. These whoopie pies can be refrigerated and served cool or at room temperature. Enjoy!
What Is Hummingbird Cake?
Hummingbird cake is a quintessential Southern dessert featuring moist cake baked with mashed banana, crushed pineapple, and chopped pecans covered in cream cheese frosting. Shredded coconut is sometimes also added to the cake batter or frosting.
Hummingbird cake is said to have originated in Jamaica, based on its tropical ingredients, pineapple, and coconut. The cake was made popular in the South and eventually all over the US after the recipe written by L.H. Wiggins was published in the February 1978 issue of Southern Living magazine.
This is a dessert that is particularly popular during the springtime but can be enjoyed any time of the year.
What Are Whoopie Pies?
Whoopie pies are a delicious nostalgic dessert that features a creamy frosting sandwiched between two soft cookie-shaped cakes.
Whoopie pies originated among the Amish in New England and were created as a way to use up leftover cake batter and avoid waste. According to Amish legend, when children would find these treats in their lunch bags, they would shout "Whoopie!"
Varitaions of This Recipe
You can try this whoopie pie recipe with just about any flavor of cake batter or frosting you prefer. Feel free to try out some of these flavors:
- Chocolate cake
- Vanilla cake
- Carrot cake
- Red velvet cake
- Lemon cake
- Vanilla buttercream
- Chocolate buttercream
Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions
You can prepare the cookies ahead of time and either refrigerate or freeze them until ready to assemble the whoopie pies. Cakes can be refrigerated for up to two days and frozen for a month. Thaw the cakes in the refrigerator and prepare the frosting when ready to serve.
Leftover whoopie pes can also be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Recommended Tools for This Recipe
Check Out These Other Irresistable Dessert Recipes Before You Go!
📖 Recipe
Hummingbird Whoopie Pies
Ingredients
Hummingbird Cakes
- 2 cups all-purpose flour - spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil - or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs - room temperature
- 2 medium ripe bananas - mashed
- ½ cup canned crushed pineapple - undrained
- ¾ cup chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1, 8-ounce package cream cheese - room temperature
- ½ cup salted butter - softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt until combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat sugar, oil, and vanilla on medium speed (5-6 on a stand mixer) until combined, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until combined after each addition. Continue to beat on medium speed until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture to the oil mixture and mix until no more dry flour is visible. Fold in mashed banana, pineapple, and pecans with a rubber spatula until just combined into the batter.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out batter and level off with a knife. Place batter scoops onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about one inch apart. You should get about 28 cakes, depending on the size of your cookie scoop. Bake the cakes in batches in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool the cakes on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
- While cakes are cooling, prepare the frosting by beating butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Be sure and scrape down the bowl about halfway through to ensure all ingredients get mixed together. Transfer frosting to a piping bag.
- Pipe about 2 tablespoons of frosting onto the flat sides of half of the cooled cakes. Place the remaining cakes on top of the frosting, flat side down, and gently press down to sandwich the frosting in between the cookies. Enjoy!
Notes
- Soften butter by leaving it out at room temperature for at least two hours or overnight if baking the next morning.
- You can prepare the cookies ahead of time and either refrigerate or freeze them until ready to assemble the whoopie pies. Cookies can be refrigerated for up to two days and frozen for a month. Thaw the cookies in the refrigerator and prepare the frosting when ready to serve.
- Leftover whoopie pes can also be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to five days.
- See blog post for other important tips and suggestions.
Lisa
This looks great, but does the filling have sugar? I see it in the list, but not in the instructions. Maybe it’s me, I’ve never made hummingbird cake. Thanks so much for the recipe. 😊
Ashley Boyd
Thank you Lisa! Yes, the powdered sugar is mixed into the cream cheese filling. I’ve updated the instructions. My apologies!
Marlon Boyd
Saw these and I had to make them! They turned out great! Thank you!