Maine’s Most Beloved “Pie” Has No Crust and a Century-Old Story Worth Sinking Your Teeth Into
Maine’s whoopie pie has a name that promises pastry, but its construction delivers something else entirely. Two soft, rounded chocolate cakes surround a generous layer of creamy filling, with no crust in sight. It is less a traditional pie than a personal-sized celebration of cake and frosting. In Maine, this deceptively simple sweet has earned more than a spot in the bakery case: official recognition, an annual festival, and an enduring place in the state’s baking identity.
The reason is not a neatly settled invention story. Whoopie pie origins remain disputed, with Maine and Pennsylvania among the places claiming a connection to the treat’s beginnings. Maine’s stronger, more easily supported case rests on staying power: a Lewiston bakery traces its version to 1925, home bakers keep making them, and regional bakers gather to celebrate them. You do not have to settle who made the first one to understand why Maine has made the whoopie pie its own.
A Century-Old Bakery Story, With One Important Catch
Labadie’s Bakery in Lewiston sits at the center of Maine’s whoopie pie story. According to the Maine Atlas Project, a baker created the treat during the bakery’s first year in business in 1925. The state’s account also says Labadie’s continues using its original recipe, identifying cocoa, buttermilk, flour, sugar and vanilla among its ingredients. That gives Maine a longstanding bakery connection, though the bakery’s claim to inventing the dessert should not be mistaken for an established historical fact.
Author Susan Bregman, whose book “New England Sweets” explores the region’s confectionery history, offers a useful perspective on the competing accounts. “I think whoopie pies, like a lot of treats we eat today, probably have multiple origins,” she told WABI in August 2025. Discussing Maine’s connection, she added, “The main story originates in Labadie’s bakery inwiston,” followed b“And they started, selling their whoopie pies in 1925.” Her distinction leaves room for a strong local tradition without pretending the broader debate is closed.
Maine’s own historical presentation is similarly candid. The Maine Atlas Project identifies Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia alongside Maine as places claiming to be the dessert’s birthplace. Even the Maine Whoopie Pie Festival acknowledges that no definitive proof resolves the Maine-versus-Pennsylvania argument. That uncertainty is part of the story, not an inconvenient detail to brush away between bites. The documented local enthusiasm is much clearer than who first sandwiched the cakes together.
That is what makes the century-old bakery connection meaningful. Maine doesn’t need an uncontested invention certificate to show that whoopie pies belong in its baking culture. A commercial tradition dating to the 1920s, continued home baking, and a dedicated public celebration show how the treat has remained visible across generations. Its importance rests on repeated making, selling and sharing, not solely on winning a historical argument that the available evidence cannot conclusively settle.
Maine Made Its Affection Official Without Dethroning Blueberry Pie
In 2011, Maine gave the whoopie pie a title with legal standing: official state treat. The statute is unusually straightforward for something involving cake and frosting: “The whoopie pie, a baked good made of 2 cakes with a creamy frosting between them, is the official state treat.” The wording also clears up the pastry confusion. Whatever its name suggests, the state describes it as two cakes with filling, not a miniature crust-and-filling pie.
There is another distinction worth getting right: the whoopie pie is not Maine’s official state dessert. WABI reports that a proposal to give it that designation was amended, while wild Maine blueberry pie became the official state dessert. The final arrangement left room for both sweets rather than forcing one to represent every aspect of Maine baking. Blueberry pie kept the dessert designation; the whoopie pie received a category of its own. That is a more accurate story than saying one simply replaced the other.
The recognition also did not lock bakers into one flavor combination. Chocolate cakes with white cream remain the traditional reference point, according to Maine’s Secretary of State. But the Maine Atlas Project describes commercial versions expanding into pumpkin, mint chocolate, banana cream, strawberry and other flavors. The recognizable structure remains while bakers change what goes into it. That flexibility helps explain how an established regional sweet can retain its identity without requiring every bakery case to look exactly alike.
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A Festival Keeps the Tradition Bigger Than One Bakery
The Maine Whoopie Pie Festival turns that variety into a shared occasion. Since 2009, it has gathered bakers from around New England to offer samples and compete for prizes and bragging rights. Produced by the Center Theatre with community involvement,addingival connects Maine’s enthusiasm to a wideral baking community. It is not simply a tribute to one bakery’s recipe; it gives different bakers a place to demonstrate what they can do with the same familiar format.
According to the organizers, festivalgoers can exchange wooden-nickel tokens for samples drawn from more than 100 varieties, then vote for favorites. That makes the event both a celebration of continuity and a showcase for experimentation. The classic chocolate-and-cream combination supplies the common language, while different flavors give visitors something new to discuss. For a treat with disputed beginnings, the festival offers a much less contentious question: which version would you like another bite of?
Maine’s whoopie pies have earned their place in New England baking through that combination of longevity, adaptability and public affection. The bakery history supplies roots, the state designation supplies recognition, and home bakers and festival participants keep the tradition active. None of those facts proves Maine invented the first whoopie pie, and none needs to. Together, they explain why two soft cakes and a creamy middle have become something much bigger than the sum of their parts.
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