From Giant Vegetable to Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Five months ago I bought a pumpkin from under a tent in Mladost 1, then walked it all the way to Mladost 3. This is a long way to walk with a pumpkin, but I've been reaping the benefits ever since. Pumpkin chocolate cookies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin-black bean quesadillas, pumpkin chili. There's just a lot of good stuff that comes from pumpkin. This weekend I took out the last precious cooked-down pumpkin from the freezer and decided it was time.

Time for pumpkin whoopie pies with maple cinnamon cream cheese frosting! Oh yeah.

Now, you might be wondering why there isn't a photo of these wonders. It's because I thought they were duds. Big pumpkin-y duds. When I went to frost them, all the cakey cookies stuck together, so the final products were not as aesthetically pleasing as I had hoped. But I served them at a dinner party last night anyway and everyone LOVED them. So I think I better share the recipe, and simply suggest that you NEVER stack the pumpkin mini-cakes on top of each other. Just frost them straight off the tray when they are cool and serve them from a parchment-lined platter.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

From Tastespotting. Check out their vast whoopie pie selection here.

For the cakey cookies:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tbsp ground ginger

1/2 tbsp ground cloves

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

1.5 cups pumpkin puree

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F / 190 C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree. Add eggs and vanilla - whisk until fully incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture.

4. Spoon large spoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between each cookie. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies crack on top and a fork inserted in the middle of one comes out clean. Let cool completely on the pans.

For the Frosting:

1.5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter, room temp.

4 oz cream cheese (half of a normal plastic tub)

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Beat the butter with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the cream cheese and mix thoroughly.

2. Add powdered sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon and vanilla and keep stirring fast until well combined

Time to make whoopie pies!

1. Turn half the cookies upside down on the parchment. Frost generously. Place the other halves on top and press so the frosting spreads to the edges.

2. Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.

Serve with forks, these are a lot like cakes.