What is a whoopie pie?
Actually I’m more interested in how the whoopie pie received it’s name, but we’ll come back to that. A whoopie pie is a baked good made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, sometimes pumpkin cake, with a sweet, creamy frosting sandwiched between them. So why are these delectable little pies called “whoopie pies”? Well back in food history, Amish women would bake these and put them in farmers’ lunchboxes. When the farmers found these treats in their lunch, they would shout “Whoopie!”
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
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
- 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.
- Pipe 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.
Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients
3 cups powdered sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
- 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 and beat until combined.
- Add the powdered sugar, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Be careful no to overbeat the filling, or it will lose structure.
I would say “WHOOPIE, for whoopie pies” but my mouth is full with one already. By the way, for those who are keeping count, pumpkin recipe #4!
