pumpkin whoopie pies with cream cheese-cinnamon filling

[jennygum.livejournal.com]

I don't know if baking is really considered crafting, so if it isn't, please someone tell me and I'll remove this post. If it is (and I hope it is because I want everyone to have the opportunity to make these treats, which I can only describe as food crack), I have a really delicious recipe for all my lovely crafting ladies.. pumpkin whoopie pies, complete with cream cheese-cinnamon filling!

As you may know from previous posts, I love every bit of the fall season, and that includes absolutely any food item containing pumpkin. I've made these every fall for the past few years and it's become somewhat of a tradition at our house. In fact, I made a batch today and about 90% of them are already gone. They are easy to make, moist, pumpkiny, sweet, and addictive and your house will smell fantastic while they're baking. So without further ado, here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies - make approx 40 "cookies," the equivalent of 20 pies (although I ended up getting 46 cookies this time):
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled (I used Libby's and kept it in the fridge for a while before using it)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add the chilled pumpkin puree and whisk until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined.

Add the flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until well combined.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the baking sheet about an inch apart (they won't spread out very much during baking so you can get them pretty close together). You could also use a small ice cream scoop for this step.

Transfer to oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies just begin to crack and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on baking sheet.

Delicious Cream Cheese-Cinnamon Filling:
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Sift powdered sugar into a medium-sized bowl; set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon and beat until smooth.

Assembling the pies (this part is messy!):
The easiest way for me to put these together was to transfer the filling to a Ziploc bag and snip off the end. That way I could pipe the filling onto the center of the flat side of a cookie and add another, sandwiching them together to spread the filling to the edges. Place each finished whoopie pie on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

These are honestly one of my very favorite treats to indulge on, which is somewhat misfortunate because they are true diet-killers. One issue that I've had with them over the years is that they are super messy once they are out of the fridge. At room temperature, the cream cheese in the filling starts to warm and becomes really liquidy, so the two cookies of your whoopie pie will slide apart and the filling will get everywhere. Additionally, after a day or so in the fridge, the cookies get really soft and squishy on the bottoms, which add to the messiness. They taste just as delicious though, so I overlook these tiny hiccups in an otherwise fantastic recipe! Enjoy!