Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Cream Cheese Filling

Fall is without a doubt my favorite season.  The list of things I love about fall is pretty long:

• Mums
• Fall Decorations
• Halloween and all that implies
• The smell - leaves, grass, pumpkin and cinnamon candles...
• Fall foliage
• Baseball playoffs - when the Cardinals are actually in it :(
• HOCKEY SEASON!!
• Hoodies in the evening
• Open windows in the house and while driving
• Curling up on the weekends with a hot drink and a good book or uber-girlie movie
• Yoga pants and long sleeve t-shirts all weekend long
• Bulky cardigans
• and most importantly - THE FOOD!!!

Fall weather has been hit or miss here this year, but that doesn't deter me from participating in some seasonal baking and cooking.  One of the first seasonal inspired items I've baked were these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with a Maple Cream Cheese Filling.  If you like pumpkin you definitely need to try these.  They're sweet and spicy, the perfect combination for Fall, and then you add a little maple syrup cream cheese filling and they're positively decadent.  

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Filling 

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 TBSP cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground fresh nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup canola oil
3 cups chilled pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare to baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk to sugars and oil together. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly.  Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.  Sprinkle the flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined.

Use a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism to drop heaping TBSP of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the pan while you make the filling. They will look more like mini cakes then cookies, so don’t panic about that.

Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Filling

Ingredients:

3 cups powdered sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 TBSP maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth with no visible lumps. Add the cream cheese an beat until combined.

Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth. Be careful no to overbeat the filling, or it will lose structure.

To assemble Whoopie Pies:Turn half the cooled cookies upside down. Pipe filling (about a TBSP) onto that half. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spread to the edges of the cookie. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Put the whoopie pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm before serving.

Source: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, as adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking