Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

My apologies for the lack of posts lately.

Some weeks pass you by without permission and you realize you have only uploaded two blog posts. This past week (actually a little over a week) has been crazy. Last weekend (well, not yesterday weekend but the weekend before), my parents were in town from Friday to Sunday. We had a blast and they even let me experiment on a couple new recipes for them. I introduced them to my honey bourbon barbecue pulled pork that I served with homemade whole wheat baguettes (recipe to come this week, promise!). On Saturday, we made risotto (recipe this week as well!). Apparently I was trying to liquor them up since both dinners I made were laden with booze. ;)

So after the 'rents left on Sunday I started to feel sick. I thought it was maybe the flu but as the week progressed it turned into a severe head cold with a on-and-off fever that just exhausted me to my core. I was in bed every night before my clock hit 9:00 pm, no joke. I had to get better because I had a whirlwind weekend planned for this past weekend; I was back in NC celebrating the wedding of one my dearest friends from grad school. Luckily, my sickness was on the mend and I got to enjoy my time back there. The weather was AMAZING for early November, Kate was a beautiful bride (with a gorgeous dress), and I had a wonderful time catching up with so many friends. My plane landed in Indy late last night and I had a two hour drive home in the pouring down rain. I think my hands and shoulders are still sore from gripping the steering wheel so tight on the drive home. I fell into my bed last night completely exhausted.

Who would like an extra day or two to catch up from the craziness?

ME PLEASE!


I'm sharing with you today another recipe I made for my parents when they were in town. Remember the homemade pumpkin puree? Here it is again, this time in a nice sweet dessert. My mom loves anything pumpkin but my dad is definitely not a pumpkin pie fan. These little guys satisfied them both. They taste like pumpkin bread with a delicious maple cream cheese frosting. They would be a great addition to your holiday dessert table.

Pumpkin Woopie Pies (adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)
Ingredients:
For whoopie pies:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 canola oil
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (homemade or canned)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For maple cream cheese frosting:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg together.

In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar and oil. Whisk in the pumpkin puree followed by the egg and vanilla. Add the flour mixture in small portions and whisk until completely incorporated.

Drop the batter by rounded tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the cookies comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack until completely cooled.

Make the frosting by beating the butter and cream cheese using a stand or hand mixer until smooth for about 5 minutes. Beat in the powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time, incorporating completely. Finally beat in the maple syrup and vanilla until smooth.

Assemble the whoopie pies by flipping over half of the cookies, spreading the frosting on the bottom of them and topping with another cookie.

Store them in the fridge until ready to serve.

Makes 18-24 whoopie pies, depending on how big you make them.