Making whoopee...

...pies. What else would I blog about? Fall hit me full in the mouth with my first sip of a Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte two weeks ago. Ever since that glorious moment, I have been itching to get into the kitchen and start baking.


I have always been a big fan of baking. It is simple chemistry - two plus two equals four, and if you follow the recipe, you get chocolate chip cookies. I find it easier to bake than cook, probably because I am not fond of going off script. So when I saw this recipe for Pumpkin Whoopee Pies (which is something I have never done before), I was apprehensive to try it, but confident it would turn out just fine. 


Husband left us Wednesday evening for Guys Night, so it was just me and Pup home alone. I found this was the perfect time to bake and catch up on girl shows (I couldn't convince him to watch Hart of Dixie with me, surprising as that may seem).

Here is the line up - 

For the pies:

• 3 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup splenda (or white sugar - you bet your britches I don't own Splenda)
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 - 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:

• 1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 - 16 oz. package of powdered sugar
• About a capful (which I took to mean about 2 tsp) of vanilla extract
• Cinnamon, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Beat together brown sugar, white sugar, oil, and pumpkin.


[Boy, was I excited to open this can of pumpkin! I was ready for that spicy fall scent to fill my head with warm thoughts. I hastily pull the lid off, sniff the delicious orange contents and - EW! WHAT THE HECK. This smells AWFUL! It smells like - pumpkin. Oh. After adding my spices, I had my desired effect, but. Pre-spice pumpkin is not delicious.]

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, followed by the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just combined.

Using a pastry bag with a round tip, or a big ziplock bag with one corner snipped (I used a ziplock - it worked wonderfully and I got to throw it all away afterwards! My favorite kind of clean-up.), squeeze out spiraled circles of batter, starting from the middle and working outward until the circles are about 2 inches in diameter. (The original recipe does not say whether or not the cookie sheets should be greased, but I sprayed a bit of Pam on mine for good measure.)

[They look like spiraled snail shells. I omitted the picture for your sake. It looked like a certain unsavory pile that you don't want to think about while cooking. One tip that I read online that I thought was helpful was that this type of batter, unlike cookies, doesn't spread outwards, it only rises. From the picture, it also looks like I probably mixed my batter too much compared to the Dreamy Desserts blog, but they still turned out great.]

Bake for 11 minutes and cool on a rack. [Pup is so patient!]

Beat together cream cheese and butter for the filling. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Frost flat side of half of the pies and top with another piece. Enjoy right away, or chill overnight. 




After making the filling, I was a little concerned with how sweet it was. I had never had a whoopee pie before, and I expected a light, whipped sort of filling. I researched some of my favorite food blogs to see if there was a different filling recipe they recommended, but a cream cheese based filling is common. In the end, I stuck with the recipe, but filled the pies sparsely. I piled my pies in a large Tupperware and took them to work the next day. They were a huge hit! With a big glass of milk, they turned out to be a wonderful fall treat. They are decadent, but don't leave you feeling heavy. This recipe is definitely a keeper!