Makin' Whoopie Wednesday: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

It's fall y'all! With that comes the appearance of everything pumpkin. When I posted on Instagram and Twitter (so if you're not following us yet, you could be missing out.) this picture of my hubby's weekly dessert feature, I got many requests for the recipe. So, Whoopie!, here it is. You can thank my wonderful fella for it. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Cream Cheese 

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING

3 cups confectioners' sugar

¼ teaspoon maple extract

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


PUMPKIN WHOOPIE COOKIES

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 1/4 cups brown sugar

½ cup olive oil

½ cup rice bran oil or canola

3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Making the Cookies -

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using parchment paper or silicone baking mat line two cookie sheets and set aside. Mix by hand the following ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. (If you are in a pinch, you can use a basic pumpkin pie spice blend instead of the individual spices). In a second large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil, mix well. Continue adding eggs, vanilla. Fold in chilled pumpkin puree. Sift  in flour mixture to bowl containing the pumpkin mixture until fully incorporated.

Drop even and heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake 15 minutes or until cookies are cooked in the center (check with toothpick inserted in center). When the cookies are cool to the touch, but still warm, take half of the cookies and turn them upside down. Press gently until you create a flat bottom, these will be your “bottom” cookies. Allow all cookies to cool completely on pan.

Making the Filling -

Sift confectioner' sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. Using a mixer and a paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners' sugar, maple extract and vanilla, beat until smooth.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a pastry bag or use a large food storage bag and snip the end. Pipe a large dollop of filling on the “bottom” side of the cookies, but do not overfill. Make sure that your cookies are completely cooled. Add a "top" cookie that has no filling to each filled  "bottom" cookie to create a sandwich. Gently press the "top" cookie to move the filling to the edge of the sandwich. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Dust the top of the whoopie pies with confectioner's sugar right before serving if desired.