Fall is here and so are soul satisfying foods. Nothing says comfort food like a pumpkin dessert! Here is a delicious recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie pies. Even better, the cakes are held together with maple cream cheese frosting. Yummm!
Ingredients for Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups CHILLED pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
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 the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices; set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the sugars and oil until creamy. Whisk in the chilled pumpkin until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Flavor with vanilla.
Slowly add the flour mixture to the batter, making sure everything is well combined. But do not overmix!
Drop heaping tablespoons of batter 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 12 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
Ingredients for maple cream cheese filling
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter
8 oz room temperature cream cheese
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
Make the filling: Beat the butter until smooth.Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add powdered 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.
This recipe makes about 16 whoopie pies. Enjoy!
