whoopieee!

pumpkin is october's only redeeming quality.  ok maybe halloween too.

but not the shorter days or the cold weather.

  this weekend i made pumpkin whoopie pies to treat my early onset of seasonal affective disorder.

warning: this is not the prettiest recipe.  but i promise it's one of the tastiest.

start with brown sugar, white sugar, pumpkin, and oil

mix well.  looks kinda barfy

add eggs 1 at a time

mix well after each addition

add vanilla, mix well

in a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda,
ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt

combine with a whisk

gradually add to the bowl of barf

once it's all in mix until just combined.  looking better.

now take a pastry bag (or ziploc with end snipped off) and pipe 2-in spirals
(that kind of look like doodie)

stick them in the oven for 11 min, peel off parchment paper and cool on a rack

in the meantime, get some softened cream cheese and a stick of unsalted butter

mix them up

add some cinnamon and mix some more

add confectioners sugar and keep mixing until combined

now you have your filling

plop some onto the flat side of one of your doodies

and squash another doodie on top

i made some itty bitties too.  they are cute and fun

pumpkin whoopie pies

ingredients

pies:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 can pure pumpkin puree (Libby's)

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground ginger

1 TBS cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmet

1/4 tsp ground cloves

filling:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

8 oz. (1 block) cream cheese, softened

2 dashes of cinnamon

3 drops vanilla extract

1lb (16 oz) confectioners sugar

method

preheat oven to 350

combine sugars, oil, & puree in large mixing bowl

in separate bowl, combine dry ingredients with a whisk

gradually add dry ingredients to wet, mix until just combined

with a pastry bag or ziploc with end snipped off, pipe approx. 2-in spirals onto parchment lined baking sheet

bake for 11 min

for filling, mix softened butter & cream cheese.  

add cinnamon and vanilla.  mix well.

add confectioners sugar.  mix well

when whoopie pies are cooled, add filling to flat side of one pie.  press flat side of another pie on top.

*notes:  my pictures and the original recipe call for cutting 3-in squares of parchment paper.  this is so you can hold the pastry bag still and rotate the squares.  also helps keep the pies a uniform size.  i found it easier to move the pastry bag and hold the squares still.  next time i will just put one sheet of parchment paper on the cookie sheet and not worry about cutting out squares.  it took extra time and didn't seem totally necessary.  original recipe here.

these whoopie pies were pretty easy (even the piping!) and 

super tasty