Tried & True Tuesday: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

. So, I made it back to Omaha in one piece.  And where/what was I doing, you may wonder?

I mentioned Brittany and Tim a while back when they first got engaged and can you believe that their wedding is in A WEEK AND A HALF?!  Holy moly, where has the time gone?!  So I ventured on back to Woodbury, Minnesota, this last weekend for Brit's wedding shower, bachelorette party, and a day filled with laughs with my besties!  You can probably imagine the time that we had and I'll let you know the weekend was nothing short of absolute amazingness.

Is that a word?  I think not...but it's the only word I can think of right now that comes even close to how much fun I had with those ladies.  Pictures to come [along with Colorado pictures, oops!].

So to go along with a weekend hanging out with my all time favorite people, I decided to put up my ALL TIME favorite pumpkin recipe, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies [with a Maple-Marshmallow Cream Filling].  Let me pick your chin up for you...

These little take-alongs are simply Fall-wonderful.  The cakes themselves are uber soft and tender. But what sets theses apart from any other pumpkin whoopie pie you'll be chomping on this Fall is the maple-marshmallow cream filling.  Uhh?  Yum?  Correct! .

Ingredients:

Cakes:

3 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

2 c. packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree

Maple-Marshmallow Cream Filling:

1 c. powdered sugar, sifted

1 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 (7 oz.) jar marshmallow cream

2 tsp. maple extract

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F and place rack in center of oven.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and salt.  Set aside.
3. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree.  Beat in flour mixture just until incorporated.  Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.  With back of spoon, smooth tops of cakes.
4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until tops of cookies spring back when lightly pressed.  Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
5. For filling, beat powdered sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy.  Add marshmallow cream and maple extract; beat until blended and smooth.
6. Spread 2 tablespoons of filling on flat side of half of cakes.  Top with remaining cakes.

Yield: 2 dozen whoopie pies

Tried & True Tuesday: Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

. Okay, short [but sweet] post!

After glancing through my last seventeen few posts, I've noticed a heavy trend of fruit.  And that is obviously expected, since it's fruit season insanity and I can't resist walking past ripe, seasonal produce.  Oh, sidenote: I hit the jackpot at the Farmer's Market this last weekend and made a wooooonderful coffee cake.  So come back around later this week.  Just saying.

But back to the point of this post.  To break up the beautiful monotony of my fruity posts, I decided to throw in a little chocolate-peanut butter combo.  And we all know that is simply unbeatable.

So let me introduce the oh-so-wonderful Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies from Martha Stewart.  These little cake sandwiches are pure deliciousness, let me tell you.  The peanut butter buttercream filling is uber creamy and, of course, peanut buttery.  The filling in itself is addicting, I'm warning you now that you will be tempted [and will give in] to dipping those little fingers into the bowl a time or two.  I, of course, had extreme will power but...just kidding!  I had no what we call 'willpower', nor do I ever when it comes standing in the kitchen with batters and frostings galore.  But I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the betterment of baking.  Betterment?  Yes.

Alright and super short post turned into a regular one.

Now back to these whoopie pies.  The filling is then sandwiched between two soft, decadent rounds of chocolate cake.  Perfect little items to fulfill that chocolate peanut butter fix.  And since they're small, you can have a couple .

My Notes:

• The directions below are for free form whoopie pies, but if you have a whoopie pie pan then you can also use that.
• When I made these, I decided to make mini whoopie pies, which yielded about 30.  If you like this idea, simply drop scant teaspoons of batter onto baking sheets and bake the cakes for about 9 minutes.

Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

From Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

Cake:

1-3/4 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1/4 c. vegetable shortening

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 c. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Buttercream:

2/3 c. creamy peanut butter

8 tbsp. unsalted butter

3/4 c. powdered sugar

Salt (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.  Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in small bowl; set aside.
2. Add butter, shortening, sugar, and dark brown sugar to in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment; cream on high speed until smooth (about 3 minutes).  Add egg, beat until pale and fluffy (about 2 minutes).  Add half of flour mixture, then milk and vanilla extract; beat until well combined.  Add remaining flour mixture and beat together.
3. Drop 12 slightly rounded tablespoons of batter 2 inches apart on baking sheets.  Bake 10 minutes in upper and lower thirds of oven; switch positions and rotate.  Continue baking 2 to 4 minutes or until cakes spring back when touched.  Let cool on baking sheets (about 10 minutes).  Transfer to wire rack to let cool completely.
4. For filling, cream peanut butter and butter in medium bowl on high speed.  Reduce mixer to low speed and mix in powdered sugar until combined.  Beat mixture on high speed until fluffy and smooth (about 3 minutes).  Add salt to taste.
5. Spread scant 1 tablespoon peanut butter buttercream on half of cookies.  Top with remaining cakes.

Yield: 1 dozen whoopie pies