Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting

I had never had a whoopie pie before (I don’t count that gross package one I tired-yuk) until I made them this weekend with Pricer. I really did not see the appeal in them since they are like a cake sandwich. Can’t you just make a cupcake? Well, I’m still not sure what the big difference is between whoopie pies and cake and cupcakes so I’ll just go with it. You can read about Whoopie Pies here.

I was attracted to making whoopie pies because it was something new to me and I knew I could do pumpkin ones so they would go with the season.  I found a good recipe on Martha Stewart that was from Baked Bakery in NYC. I love the pumpkin cream cheese muffins they have at Starbucks so I was excited to see the recipe has a cream cheese frosting.

Price helped me make them (see below!) so it made the process even more fun. It was a simple recipe with a good result. Our whoopie pies are not smooth like the ones pictured so I’ll have to figure that out next time. I would think it would have to how much it was whisked but Price did that really well for a while so it might be the overall density, or the humidity, or our convection oven. They could have been more pumpkin-y for me- maybe I could try some pumpkin pie spice to replace the spices in here, or add more ginger (I love ginger). The recipe said that we would have 12 whoopie pies but our ice cream scoop was much smaller than the one suggested so we ended up with about 25. At least I don’t feel so guilty having one since they are like 3 bites. I made them on Saturday night so they were still really fresh when my dad came up on Sunday and I was able to give him some. 🙂

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting

FOR THE 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

2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FOR THE CREAM-CHEESE FILLING

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

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

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.

Make the filling: Sift confectioner’ sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)

Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.