Recipe: Pumpkin-Chocolate Whoopie Pies

I had such success making Lemon Whoopie Pies several months ago, I decided to try a second Whoopie Pie recipe. Since fall has finally arrived, I thought Pumpkin Whoopie Pies would be perfect. Most Pumpkin Whoopie Pie recipes that I’ve seen have some type of white filling- either cream cheese or marshmallow based. This recipe from Everyday Food is the only one I’ve seen with a chocolate filling.

They were a big success. My son scarfed down 3 in the blink of an eye when he got home from school. Either he really like them or he didn’t eat lunch that day.

The chocolate filling is really good – like a thick, creamy chocolate frosting. The recipe makes more than enough frosting to frost 10 whoopie pies which is the yield for this recipe. That means there will be lots left in the bowl to lick.

I altered the recipe just a little since it called for pumpkin pie spice and I didn’t have any nor could I find any at Walmart. And BTW the spice section at Walmart was complete chaos, empty spaces, spices in the wrong spot, spices strewn (is that a word?) haphazardly. Another gal asked me what I was looking for because she couldn’t find what she was looking for. She looked like she’d been there for quite some time. When she told me she hadn’t seen any pumpkin pie spice, I took her word for it and decided to make my own.

Pumpkin- Chocolate Whoopie Pies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter melted, plus 1/4 cup room temperature
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, plus more for serving.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks placed in the upper and lower thirds of oven.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, brown sugar, melted butter, and 1/4 cup heavy cream.
4. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and whisk just until combined.
5. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop dough in 2-tablespoon mounds on baking sheets, spaced 1-inch apart.
6. Bake until tops of cookies spring back when touched, about 12-14 minutes. Rotate sheets halfway through to promote even cooking. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
7. For filling, in a medium bowl beat room temperature butter, 1/2 cup cream, cocoa powder, and confectioners sugar on medium high for 2 minutes, or until fluffy. Spread filling on flat side of 1/2 the cookies. Top with remaining cookies.

Yield: 10 whoopie pies

Recipe Source: Everyday Food

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