These Lemon Poppy Seed Whoopie Pies are a soft and chewy cookie with a sweet and tangy citrus filling! Your taste buds are going to sing when you try these!
Love cookie sandwiches? Our carrot cake whoopie pies are soft with a cream cheese filling! Or give our easy chocolate whoopie pies a try next.
Why This Recipe Works
Whoopie pies deserve more attention! These cake-like cookies are sandwiched together with a delicious cream filling.
Chocolate Whoopie Pies usually come to mind when I think about this kind of sandwich cookie. But did you know you can make whoopie pies in all kinds of flavors?
Today’s whoopie pie features one of my favorite flavor combos: lemon poppy seed!
- Soft chewy lemon cookies flecked with poppy seeds!
- A lemon infused filling gives these the ultimate citrus tang.
- Drizzled with melted white chocolate for a sweet, beautiful finish.
- This recipe makes 25 whoopie pies–perfect for a crowd!
If you love lemon desserts, you NEED these lemon poppy seed whoopie pies in your life!
Looking for a crisper lemon cookie recipe? Try my Lemon Crunch Cookies too.
Ingredient Notes
Like other cookies, lemon poppy seed whoopie pies are made with baking staples including eggs, butter, flour and sugar.
We used a few other particular ingredients to give these whoopie pies that classic soft, cakey consistency and a lemon zing.
- Light corn syrup – adds additional sweetness and moisture to these cookies.
- Greek yogurt – for even more moisture and enhanced tangy flavor. I used the vanilla flavor, but plain would work too!
- Lemons- The zest gives these cookies a bright lemon aroma and color. You’ll also need fresh lemon juice to make the filling. Use our guide on how to zest a lemon.
- Lemon extract – Makes the whoopie pies smell and taste like you plucked them right off a lemon tree!
Easy Instructions
To make the whoopie pies, you’ll mixing together a simple cookie dough.
- These cookies don’t spread much so the shape of the unbaked dough will be the shape and size of the cookies. I used a 2 Tablespoon scoop and it formed perfect domed cookies.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until the bottom edges just begin to brown. Let the cookies cool completely while you make the filling.
- To make the filling, beat your softened butter for about 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer until it turns pale in color. This will create a creamy filling!
- Add your sugar, lemon zest and enough lemon juice to make a spreadable, but stable texture. Anywhere between 2 and 4 TBPS should do the trick!
Pipe the filling onto the flat bottom of half the baked cookies. Top each one with an additional cookie to form whoopie pies.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t overbake these cookies. You want to bake them just until the bottom edges begin to brown. For my oven it was 10 minutes, so keep an eye on them!
- To add a little flair to your whoopie pies, drizzle some melted white chocolate over the tops. I spoon my chocolate into a resealable plastic sandwich bag and snip off the corner. Makes for an easy drizzle technique. Add some yellow sanding sugar sprinkles for that pop of yellow color!
- The resealable sandwich bag trick works for piping the filling onto the cookies, too. Or you can use a frosting bag for this step, if you have one.
- Want a less lemony filling? Swap the lemon juice for heavy cream instead.
This recipe makes about 25 Whoopie Pies (or 50 individual cookies) which is perfect for sharing. Save extra cookies for mom or anyone else in your life who could use a little extra appreciation.
Baking is such a great way to show how much you care!
Recipe FAQs
Sour cream makes an ideal substitute for the Greek yogurt in this recipe.
Lemon juice should not be used in place of lemon extract in recipes like this one.
Lemon extract is highly concentrated, so it adds that robust lemony flavor without disrupting the ratio of liquids and solids.
Store lemon poppyseed whoopie pies in an airtight container at room temperature. They taste best when eaten within 5 days of baking.
Here’s my guide to zesting lemons (and every kind of citrus!). It’s a handy post to save and refer to whenever you’re baking with lemons, limes or oranges.
More Cookies
- Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
- Twix Cookies
- Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies
- Ritz Cookies
- Sausalito Cookies
- Cherry Shortbread cookies
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Lemon Poppy Seed Whoopie Pies
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- ¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup light corn syrup
- ½ cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 lemon zested (about 2 tsp)
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
For the filling:
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 lemon zested about 2 tsp
- 1 lemon juiced about 3 Tbsp
For the garnish:
- ½ cup white chocolate melted
- yellow sanding sugar sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar for the cookie dough. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add in eggs, corn syrup, yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon extract. Beat until combined.
- Beat in flour, baking powder, and poppy seeds. Using a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop, drop tablespoons of dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, just until the edges and bottoms begin to brown. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack.
- To make the filling for the whoopie pies, beat butter for 2-3 minutes until pale in color. Add in powdered sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Beat for an additional 2-3 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
- Using a plastic resealable bag, add filling. Snip off corner and pipe onto cookie. Add second cookie to make whoopie pie.
- If desired, drizzle with melted white chocolate and yellow sanding sugar. ENJOY.
Notes
- Don’t overbake these cookies. You want to bake them just until the bottom edges begin to brown. For my oven it was 10 minutes, so keep an eye on them!
- To add a little flair to your whoopie pies, drizzle some melted white chocolate over the tops. I spoon my chocolate into a resealable plastic sandwich bag and snip off the corner. Makes for an easy drizzle technique. Add some yellow sanding sugar sprinkles for that pop of yellow color!
- The resealable sandwich bag trick works for piping the filling onto the cookies, too. Or you can use a frosting bag for this step, if you have one.
- Want a less lemony filling? Swap the lemon juice for heavy cream instead.
Nutrition
Lemon Poppy Seed Whoopie Pies are delightful handheld desserts packed with sunny lemon flavor!
Ooops! Just found the recipe, somehow.
So please never mind my previous request for the recipe. I shall definitely explore all the yummy sounding-looking recipes you are showing on your website. Sorry about my ignorance of the web. 71 and still learning.
Why can’t I find the ingredients list for the recipe?
I do not have a pinterest (sp) account so cannot save through them.
Please give us a way to get the complete recipe from your page.
There are so many other recipes on the webpage I would like to try but if I cannot get to the complete recipe, what’s the point?
Please, and thank you. Sincerely, Samantha
This looks incredible! Yum!
I love the yellow sprinkles on top, it just gives the whoopie pies a little something extra! Kind of like in Legally Blonde when Elle Woods when she sprays her resume with perfume! lol Back to the whoopie pies, they look great and lemon poppyseed such a classic combo!
LOL, love that movie 🙂
These are such pretty little treats! I love the extra drizzle and sugar on top for that extra flair!
Lemon poppy seed flavored anything is my EVERYTHING. These sound so good and just so perfect for spring! Pinned!
When I first saw these last week I knew I had to have them! Something about lemon and poppy seed together is just so perfect! Love it.
They go together so well 🙂
Aimee these look out of this world kind delicious!! I can so go for a few of these with coffee!!
Thank you Ami!! 🙂
This is the perfect Mother’s Day Treat!
Whoopie pies are just SO fun to make and I’m obsessed with the lemon poppyseed flavor combo 🙂
You can’t go wrong with anything lemon in my opinion and I would love these!
I knew I loved you for a reason 🙂
I love lemon anything…And whoopie pies bring back childhood memories 🙂 They look amazing!
Thank you Angela! I’m a sucker for lemon too 🙂
I’ll just bake up your whole blog week, okay? Starting with the cake Monday and now these. I can’t resist a whoopie pie, and these have lemon, which makes them just my thing. You deserve as many as you want, hardworking mama of four!
You’re so sweet. Wish you lived closer and I can just share them with you 🙂