Hey, what did you do last Friday night? Don't be too jealous, but I went to a party where I was the youngest guest by about 25 years. Yup: my parents have an annual Halloween party, and I invited myself. I dressed as a donut, and I made whoopie pies.
Not just any whoopie pies, though. The BAKED whoopie pie. I adapted the recipe only slightly from the cutest bakers in Brooklyn (and beyond). The one major change I made is that I halved their recipe. I knew I didn't need too many, and I only had one can of pumpkin puree. I think maybe mine ended up a little denser than the original but guess what still delicious.
Oh, I also added some maple and messed with the frosting. You'll love it. It makes them a little more interesting, I think!
The results were stunning (in flavor; my decoration might not be pinterest-worthy but they made me smile). If you need a tasty lil pumpkin recipe that you can put together in under an hour, this is the recipe for you!
Pumpkin whoopie pies
Makes about 12 sandwiches
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted and cooled
- 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree (plain)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling
- 1 brick cream cheese
- 1 stick butter
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- pinch salt
- 2-3 cups confectioners' sugar
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix all those dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
Combine the butter, sugar, pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients and stir to combine only long enough to reduce lumps (a few minutes by hand, or decidedly briefly in a stand mixer (less than 2 min for sure).
Dollop heaping tablespoon-fuls of the dough on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until springy to the touch (looking for browning can be tough given the pumpkin shade of the cookie bookends). Remove and let cool briefly before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the frosting. Cream together all of the ingredients except for the sugar. Once nice and smooth (ZERO LUMPS OF CREAM CHEESE YO) add the sugar in, starting with 2 cups and stirring to combine on low speed (this helps reduce the possibility of a sugar snowstorm) then raise to high speed to whip it a little. Add the rest of the sugar cup by cup, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until the frosting has your desired consistency.
Pair up similarly sized cookies. Give the bottom of one a nice dollop of frosting then sandwich with a second cookie.
OH! If you want to do the faces like I did, use mini marshmallows for the eyes (I squished em between my fingers) and adhered them to the cookie with a dollop of frosting. Another dollop of frosting was used to affix the chocolate chip eyes and the punkins on top of the cookies.
Enjoy!