Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I saw these on Martha, at least a year ago.  I had to make them.  It took me forever to do it but I made them.  I have to say they were much better after a day of hanging around.  The flavors really had time to develop. I did the filling a bit differently but followed the recipe for the most part.


PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES
Adapted from this recipe at Martha Stewart, compliments of the authors of Baked.

3 cups unbleached all-purpose 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

FOR THE CREAM-CHEESE FILLING

8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter, room temperature

3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

3 – 4 Tbsp. milk or cream

2 tsp. vanilla.

1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow creme

 

Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 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 eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

Using a pastry bag, pipe rounds of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Smooth out points with a wet finger. 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 10-15 minutes depending on their size. Let cool 10 minutes on pan then move to a cooling rack.

Make the filling: Place butter in a large mixing bowl.  Beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds.  Stop mixer before adding sugar to avoid a large mess.  Add sugar, 3 tablespoons milk or cream, and vanilla.  Beat frosting, starting on slow, increasing your speed until frosting is nice and creamy.  Add up to 1 more tablespoon milk if frosting is too thick.  Fold in 7 oz jar of Marshmallow creme.  Frost cookies.

Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry 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.