Whoopie Pies for Dad!

Remember those pumpkin whoopie pies I made last year? Well, my dad does! He hasn't stopped talking about whoopie pies since then. He mentions them to me at least a few times each month. I guess I'm a terrible daughter, because it's taken me this long to make them for him again! But never fear... these chocolate whoopie pies were worth the wait! The filling recipe needs a little work, but the cookies themselves are fantastic! I can definitely see these as a regular item at my future bakery! Now, if I could only figure out why they call them "pies"...

Sorry, I've been getting really bad at skipping the step-by step photos. I promise I'll bring them back soon!!

Whoopie Pies (from Recipe Hall of Fame Dessert Cookbook)
#30 scoop makes 24 cookies (12 pies)

COOKIE:
1/2 cup salad oil
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa (I used 1/4 cup regular + 1/4 cup dark)
1 cup milk (I added 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee)
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix ingredients in order and beat until well mixed. Drop on ungreased cookie sheet from a tablespoon. Bake for 7-10 minutes in a 375 oven or until done (Most of mine were done at 6 minutes). Spread filling between 2 cookies (I used a piping bag with a #32 tip).

FILLING:
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup margarine (or butter), softened
1 cup Crisco (reduce to 1/2 cup)
1 cup sugar (replace with 2 cups confectioners’ sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cook milk and cornstarch together. This will be very thick. Cool completely. Cream together the margarine, Crisco, and sugar. Add vanilla and salt. Add cooled, cooked mixture and beat with electric mixer on high speed for at least 5 minutes. Will be very creamy. (These instructions are kinda vague. Here’s what I did. Bring the milk and cornstarch to a simmer over medium heat. As soon as it begins to thicken, turn the heat off and stir for another minute. It should become thick like glue. Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature (do not refrigerate). I changed a few things about the next part. First, I used butter instead of margarine and reduced the amount of Crisco because, well, I just don’t like Crisco. Second, I would change the sugar next time to confectioners’ sugar because the regular sugar was just too grainy and not nearly sweet enough. Other than that, the directions for the last steps are pretty straightforward. PS: This recipe makes a GINORMOUS amount of filling. I only used about 1/2 of it!)

Autumn Baking: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

October is finally here!! It's my favorite time of the year for baking. Everything tastes so warm and cozy. I'm asking for you guys to send your favorite Autumn/Fall recipes to me at howtoeatacupcake@yahoo.com (an e-mail is preferable, but a comment is fine!). This recipe was sent to me by Debbie Vassil. It comes from Bon Appetit's October 2005 issue. I had never made whoopie pies before, but I had read a lot about them in Flickr discussions. I love love LOVE pumpkin, so I definitely couldn't resist this recipe. I rolled some in toasted chopped pecans and some in mini chocolate chips. They'd also be super good topped with dried cranberries like those raisin creme pies you can get at the grocery store. Thanks Debbie, these were SO great! There were no leftovers! ;)

OH YEAH!! And I totally forgot October 1st is National Cookie Day. These are kinda like cookies... right?

Ingredients

After letting the electric mixer do most of the work, I like to finish the batter by hand.
I used a medium (#30) cookie scoop to make sure they were all the same size.
While they were cooling, the house smelled SO nice!
Tada! Autumn deliciousness!

MY NOTES: This is my adaptation of the recipe sent to me by Debbie Vassil from Bon Appetit's October 2005 issue. I halved the recipe, and changed it slightly. I'll put the original quantities in bold parentheses. The original recipe probably makes about 23-24 pies. You'll need to double the filling if you make the whole recipe. Also, I made my own buttermilk by adding 1/4 tsp white vinegar to 1/4 cup whole milk. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes. I used my own recipe for the spiced cream cheese filling.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Makes 23 cookies (11 pies + 1 leftover cookie to eat!)

1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (2 3/4 cups)
1 teaspoon baking powder (2 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (1 tsp)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (4 1/2 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (1 1/2 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (1 1/2 tsp)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (1/2 tsp)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp (2 1/2 sticks)
1/2 cup sugar (1 1/2 cups)
1 tablespoon molasses (3 Tbsp)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (2 tsp)
2 large eggs (4)
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) (1 1/4 cups)
1/4 cup buttermilk (1/2 cup)

Spiced Cream Cheese Filling (my own recipe)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg, ginger, and cloves

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Whisk dry ingredients (except sugar) together in a medium bowl.
Using electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, molasses and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add pumpkin puree.
Mix in dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions, beating until just combined.
Line large baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart, leaving enough room for dough to spread.
Bake for 13 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center. Cool completely on wire racks before filling.
To make the filling, beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until blended. Add sugar and spices. Beat just until thickened and well blended.