I joined the Cookie Carnival group! Every month, members are sent a cookie recipe and we have the month to bake it. At the end of the month, the kind hostess, Kate, posts a roundup of all the contributing members. What I like about this group is its laidback approach – we don’t have to participate every month and we can post our results any time during the month. So here’s October’s cookie: Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.

I’ve never even tasted a whoopie pie before, so never mind baking them! So I was pretty excited when I saw this was the recipe, as it’s always fun to try something new.

I really liked these cookies. I wasn’t sure what they would be like, but I was pleasantly surprised. They’re very cakey, and moist. Admittedly, alone they are a tad boring…but when combined with the pumpkin cream cheese filling, they are delicious! The filling isn’t too sweet, and tastes remarkably like pumpkin. I upped the spice amounts in the filling and am happy I did – I love the pumpkin pie flavour it has. When combined with the chocolate, it makes for some tasty cookies. The combo of textures is also really nice, as the filling is very creamy and smooth; it balances out the cakiness of the cookie perfectly.

They did take a long time to prepare, mostly because I only have one cookie sheet and you end up having to make about 40 cookies. Note to self – buy a smaller ice cream scoop for making smaller drop cookies like these; it would’ve made them far prettier, I think. I used a plastic baggie with a corner cut off to pipe the filling onto the cookies. I was stingy with the filling at first, but no worries…the filling recipe makes enough to be plentiful!

All in all, I really enjoyed these cookies, and would love to try them a variety of flavoured fillings. But for these fall months, the pumpkin was an awesome choice!

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Adapted from Martha Stewart

COOKIES

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

PUMPKIN FILLING

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup canned solid pack pumpkin
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

COOKIES

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Place butter, shortening, and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3. Mix in half the flour mixture, then the milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining flour mixture.

4. Drop about 2 teaspoons dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies spring back when lightly touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool 10 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets and transfer to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.

PUMPKIN FILLING

1. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese, butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg; whip until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.

2. Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons filling on the flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping the flat sides down.

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