Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Okay, I know Thanksgiving is next week but let's back track a little bit to Halloween. My office holds great pot lucks for all the holidays. For Halloween, I signed up for pumpkin whoopie pies. I always like to try new recipes out on my friends and family (it's hard to convince me to make something again even if it was really good) so I love having an office to make stuff for so I won't eat it all.

Here is the recipe I used. I found mine through Martha Stewart.

Note: the original recipe said it makes 12 whoopie pies so I planned on tripling it since we have over twenty people in our office. Last minute, I decided to just double it instead and ended up with 39 good sized pies. I have included the recipe for the normal serving (not doubled).

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING
-3 cups of confectioner's sugar (I found this to be a little too sweet, next time I'll add and taste with each cup)
-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
-8 ounces cream cheese, softened
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FOR THE PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES
-3 cups 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

DIRECTIONS

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

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. 

3. In another large bowl (if you double the recipe, I mean a LARGE bowl! My largest bowl was too small. I had to break out a giant punch bowl!), whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. 

4. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. 

5. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

6. Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, (I just used a soup spoon) drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. (I used the back of the spoon/my finger to smooth out the tops)

7. 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.

8. Make the filling: Sift confectioners' 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.)

9. Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag (I used a zip lock 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. (I also sprinkled some pecans on some of the pies which added a nice element. Some people in my office don't like nuts so I put a pecan in the top of the pie to denote which ones had them)

10. 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.

Definitely keep these refrigerated because of the cream cheese filling in between snacking! These were so yummy and got gobbled up! They were super moist and delicious.