Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

It has been a crazy week here at the farm.  Last Sunday we had almost five hundred people here to carve over 1300 pumpkins for our annual Pumpkin Lighting.  Here are some of the pumpkins during the day.

I made a bunch of baked goods to share with our carvers and my favorite new recipe is for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.  They were nice and spicy with a good pumpkin flavor.  The filling was great tasting but I would want a firmer filling next time, maybe more cream cheese would do it.  I would definitely fill these and let them sit over night in the fridge.  They must have been good because they were gone in no time, luckily I had eaten two before they were put out for the carvers!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Adapted from Martha Stewart and Baked

FOR THE PUMPKIN WHOOPIE COOKIES

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 Tbsp ground ginger

1 Tbsp ground cloves

2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp 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 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350*F. 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 milk 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.  For 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.)

To assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag (or ziploc 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.

Have a Happy Halloween!