Hi! It's been a while since my last post and I hope that people are feeling Fall in the air. Fall means mums and leaves and evening chill and pumpkins. And of course, pumpkins mean whoopie pies. This recipe came about due to a desire to mix pumpkin bread with gingerbread. A cream cheese filling seemed a natural way to link the flavors, and the cookie halves! Enjoy with your hot cider as you watch the trees paint the sky in their last blaze of glory.
Pumpkin Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
For the cookies:
1 cup sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons Maple syrup or Molasses
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp ground ginger
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixer, cream the sugar and the butter until light and fluffy. Add the maple syrup (or molasses) and eggs. Mix to incorporate. Add the pumpkin and mix to incorporate. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ginger. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix well. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets (I use parchment lined cookie sheets). Bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Cool on racks.
Filling:
½ cup cream cheese
¼ cup shortening
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Generous ½ cup marshmallow topping (Marshmallow Fluff)
Dash salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp milk
Lemon zest to taste
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all ingredients except the milk and beat well. Add just enough milk to achieve a creamy consistency. Spread filling across cooled cookie circles and make sandwiches
