Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies are a seasonal treat often requested each November as Thanksgiving approaches. Whoopie pies originated in New England and in Amish country. Most popular versions include chocolate cakes, but let’s just improvise for the season, shall we? I’ve made these cakes bigger in the past, but for the sake of not completely overdoing the calorie count of these decadent treats, I sized them down using a regular cookie scoop for the cakes.

These really are quite easy to make. First, whisk together the dry ingredients, including spices, and set aside. One whiff of that spicy aroma gives you  a feeling of warmth!

Before you start the creaming, make sure the butter is softened and the eggs are at room temperature. If slight indentations can be made with your fingers into the butter, then it’s ready to use. The eggs are usually taken out about 30 minutes before beginning the process. Otherwise, place them in a cup of lukewarm water for about 5 minutes.

Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add eggs, one at a time, into the creamed mixture. Once these have been beaten in, add the pumpkin puree and vanilla. Blend until fully incorporated.

Finally, add the dry ingredients to the mixture and blend until just combined.

Drop cookie scoops of dough onto a parchment paper-lined pan about 2″ apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove pan to cooling rack for a couple of minutes before removing “cakes.” These will need to be cooled completely before placing filling inside.

Filling:

The secret ingredient to New England’s classic whoopie pie filling is marshmallow fluff. There’s also a marshmallow creme available in stores, but I understand its consistency is a bit thinner, so it’s best to go with the real “fluff.”

Beat the butter with 2 ounces of the cream cheese (1/4 of the package) until thoroughly blended. Add in the confectioner’s sugar which has been sifted with the pumpkin pie spice. You will notice how the spice is infused in the filling in the pictures below. A bit of “spice sparkle” adds a slight seasonal flavor to the filling.

Scoop ALL of the fluff from the jar into your bowl and blend until thoroughly combined into sugar/butter mixture.

Placed cooled cookies in pairs, one bottom side up as shown below. You can use a pastry bag to creatively swirl the filling onto one half of the whoopie pie. I used one of my favorite cupcake frosting tips here(1B), but you could use any preferred tip good for the consistency of this filling. Your alternative is to just dollop the filling on the center. Be careful not to over do the filling as it will ooze out the sides when you gently press on the top. Look closely and you can see the spice “sparkles.” That hint of flavor just makes this filling perfect!

Here I used the same tip, but instead of swirling, I placed filling bag and tip straight down onto the center of the cookie. The result was little star form which provided a different look when placing on the top half. I thought this was a cool result!

This recipe for Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies makes approximately, 24 portion-controlled(?) servings. Keep chilled until ready too serve. They can be wrapped and stored in the freezer and eaten like a little “ice cream sandwich.” Either way, once you take a bite, you will be yelling, “Whoopie!”