Sunday, November 23, 2008

pumpkin whoopie pies

palm-sized pumpkin whoopie pies

i'm in the fall spirit like whoa. i've got my pumpkin pie wax snap melting away and my gingerbread spiced latte candle burning in the other room...everyday. i'm giving fall as much time as i can while my mental finger secretly hovers over mariah carey's all i want for christmas in my itunes holiday play list. i'm trying not to rush and this fall, i've decided that if i can add pumpkin or cranberries to make something more autumnal, well, i'm going to. so i bought eleventy billion cans of pumpkin (not pie filling) and i've been pushing orange-hued baked goods ever since.

i've seen these whoopie pies popping up all over the web...a variety of "cookie" flavors forming sandwiches around whipped frosting. from vegan chocolate to the ones i used from peabody, these pies are making a come back. unless they never really left, in which case they're just still here.


let's make the cookies!

these whoopie pies are pretty easy, but for every 2 cookies you get only 1 "pie", so plan ahead. as i linked above, i've used the recipe from culinary concoctions by peabody...which she lists as being from a cookbook called baked.

pumpkin whoopie cookies
3 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 c sugar
1 c dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 c canola oil (i substituted with applesauce)
3 cups chilled pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract


1. in a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices
2. in a separate bowl, whisk sugars and oil (applesauce) together
3. add pumpkin puree and whisk to combine
4. add eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined
5. sprinkle flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined
6. use a small scoop with a release mechanism to drop heaping tbsp of dough onto baking sheets, about 1 inch apart
(i used a regular tbsp measuring spoon with decent results)
7. bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick comes out clean
8. remove from the oven and let cool completely



before and after

once you've got cooled cookies and have decided that no, cookies alone will not suffice, it's time whip up some frosting.

maple syrup cream cheese filling (again, peabody)
3 c powdered sugar
½ c unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

1. beat the butter until smooth with no visible lumps
2. add the cream cheese an beat until combined
3. add the powdered sugar, maple syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth

to assembly these little cake cookie sandwiches, turn one cookie upside down and pipe frosting to cover the base. grab another cookie and place it flat side down onto the filling. repeat until you've matched up all cookies with their mates. refrigerate for 30 minutes to set before serving (if you can wait/if you care).



pumpkin. maple. cream cheese.

i brought these to an election party (obama whaaat! oops how'd that get there?) and we ate them while history was made. that was pretty epic, and so were these cookies (i'm not comparing here). they are cakey and pumpkiny and filled with sweet cream cheese. i'm not sure there's something here that's not to like. i don't think i've had a "real" whoopie pie, but i'm down with the person that decided cookies alone just would not do.

stay tuned for how to use cranberries three times in one week.

1 comments:

Thomas said...

They look so dark here. Bizarre. They were delicious, way (I started to write "whey") better than store-bought and those are pretty amazing.