In case you’ve never had a whoopie pie, it’s two soft cake-like cookies sandwiched together with frosting. As Ina Garten would say, “How bad can that be?
” Whoopie pies are traditionally made with chocolate cookies and white frosting, but I decided to shake things up a bit for fall.
PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES WITH SALTED CARAMEL CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
servings: 2 dozen | prep time: 20 mins | cook time: 15 mins | total time: 35 mins
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
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These Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting are a delicious dessert recipe to kick off Pumpkin Spice season!
INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
Filling
1/2 Cream Cheese Frosting recipe
1/2 cup salted caramel sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Chopped pecans optional
INSTRUCTIONS
Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F. Then, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
Mix in the dry ingredients, alternating with the pumpkin.
Drop rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the back of a spoon or your fingers. Bake 10-11 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
In the meantime, prepare 1/2 batch of My Favorite Cream Cheese Frosting* recipe. Once prepared, beat in 1/2 cup salted caramel sauce and an additional 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Beat until incorporated.
Once the cookies are cooled, spread (or pipe) the frosting onto the bottom of half of the cookies, then top with remaining cookies. (Optional: Roll the frosted edges of the cookies in chopped pecans.)
Store whoopie pies in the refrigerator.
RECIPE NOTES
*You can print the recipe for my Favorite Cream Cheese Frosting HERE.