Do-it-yourself pumpkin whoopie pies are a festive fall dessert produced from moist and tender pumpkin-shaped cookies full of candy cream cheese filling.
These cute pumpkin sandwich cookies are the proper deal with to make for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and past. In case you love these, attempt my Apple Butter Whoopie Pies, too!
Simple Do-it-yourself Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
I’ve so many pumpkin desserts for fall, however as we speak’s recipe is slightly completely different. These pumpkin whoopie pies undoubtedly put the “pumpkin” in “pumpkin dessert”, as a result of they’re really formed like plump little pumpkins! It is a enjoyable fall twist on whoopie pies made with creamy cream cheese filling sandwiched between gentle and fluffy “orange velvet” cookies. These home made pumpkin whoopie pies couldn’t be simpler to make they usually’re good for adorning, irrespective of the event.
Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Recipe
Gentle, chewy sandwich cookies. These cookies are basically chocolatey purple velvet cookies, dyed pumpkin orange for fall. They’re melt-in-your-mouth gentle, like little clouds wrapped round wealthy and tangy cream cheese frosting.
Creamy filling. I fill these cookies with a variation of the cream cheese frosting from my carrot cake recipe. The creamy filling pairs completely with the chocolate and buttermilk flavors within the cookies.
Simple to customise. Adapt the flavors of those whoopie pies and the way you embellish them relying on the event. They’re nice to make for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or any fall gathering.
Elements You’ll Want
Beneath are some notes on the components you’ll want for the cookies and filling. Bear in mind to scroll to the recipe card for the total quantities and recipe particulars.
Flour
Cocoa Powder: I like to recommend utilizing a good-quality unsweetened pure cocoa powder.
Butter: I like to recommend baking with unsalted butter. Bear in mind to take the butter out of the fridge forward of time, to let it come to room temperature.
Brown Sugar: Mild brown sugar offers the cookies a deeper, extra caramelized taste. Common granulated sugar additionally works right here, the flavour simply gained’t be fairly the identical.
Egg and Vanilla
Buttermilk: Buttermilk provides scrumptious tanginess and moisture to those orange velvet cookies. The acidity additionally reacts with the cocoa powder and baking powder, for mild, gentle, completely puffed cookies. In case you don’t have buttermilk, see my publish on how to make a buttermilk substitute.
Meals Coloring: You’ll want orange meals dye for coloring the cookie batter, and every other colours you’d like for adorning.
For the Cream Cheese Filling
Cream Cheese and Butter: Take your cream cheese and butter out of the fridge forward of time. Room-temperature components are simpler to combine.
Vanilla
Powdered Sugar: Additionally known as confectioner’s sugar, powdered sugar thickens the filling.
The right way to Make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Get able to whoop it up! Right here’s how straightforward it’s to make good pumpkin whoopie pies from scratch:
Combine the moist and dry components individually. Begin by creaming collectively butter and sugar, adopted by the egg and vanilla, and beat to mix. Combine the dry components collectively in a separate bowl.
Mix. Subsequent, add the dry components to the moist components, alternating with buttermilk till easy.
Add meals coloring. Add orange meals coloring, slightly at a time, to realize your required colour. Gel meals dyes are stronger, and also you’ll want much less colour consequently. Combine the batter till the colour is evenly distributed.
Pipe the pumpkin shapes. Now, switch the orange cookie batter to a piping bag. You may also use a Ziploc bag with the nook snipped off. Gently pipe the batter out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, creating “coronary heart” shapes to resemble pumpkins. Make sure you go away about 2 inches between every pumpkin, to account for spreading.
Bake. Bake your pumpkin cookies at 375ºF for six minutes. These cookies bake rapidly, and also you need to take them out whereas they’re nonetheless barely underbaked. They need to be simply set, and nonetheless slightly gentle within the middle.
Cool. Go away the cookies to chill on the baking sheet for a minute or two earlier than shifting them to a wire rack. Be sure that the cookies are fully cooled to room temperature earlier than filling them with frosting.
Filling the Whoopie Pies
As soon as your fluffy pumpkin-shaped cookies are baked and cooled, they’re prepared for the cream cheese filling. Assembling these whoopie pies is simple to do:
Make the frosting. Cream collectively butter and cream cheese till the combination is easy and fluffy. Slowly beat in powdered sugar till mixed, then up the blending pace and provides the frosting an excellent whip.
Fill the cookies. Switch the frosting to a piping bag (or one other Ziploc bag). Flip one-half of the cookies in order that their undersides are going through upward. Pipe a layer of frosting onto every cookie half, then press a second cookie over the frosting to type a sandwich.
Methods to Embellish Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
As soon as your pumpkin whoopie pies are assembled, you may get inventive with methods to brighten! Listed here are some concepts:
Pumpkin Stems: Damaged mini pretzels make good little pumpkin stems! Break off items and press them into the filling on the prime of your pumpkin whoopie pies to create “stalks”.
Frosting: Make further cream cheese frosting or a batch of regular buttercream frosting to make use of when adorning your whoopie pies. Colour the frosting inexperienced to pipe cute little vines and leaves over every cookie.
Jack-O-Lantern Cookies: For a enjoyable Halloween variation, use black frosting to pipe spooky Jack-O-Lantern faces onto your pumpkin whoopie pies.
Add-Ons: Use a small quantity of frosting to stick decorations like chocolate chips, M&Ms, or sweet corn onto every cookie.
Recipe Suggestions and Variations
Comply with the following pointers for the very best pumpkin whoopie pies, plus some straightforward variations to attempt:
Use room temperature components. Room-temperature butter and cream cheese mix extra easily with the opposite components, and the cookies will bake extra evenly consequently.
Don’t overmix the batter. Over-mixing the batter can yield robust, dense cookies.
Attempt to make the cookies as even-sized as doable. You may make these pumpkin whoopie pies as giant or as small as you’d like, however guarantee that the cookies are related in measurement whenever you pipe them onto the baking sheet.This fashion every cookie could have two halves that match.
Let the cookies cool fully earlier than including the filling. If the cookies are nonetheless heat, the cream cheese frosting will soften.
To arrange these whoopie pies a day or two forward, make the cookies and filling, after which retailer the parts individually. You may assemble the pumpkin whoopie pies earlier than serving. This fashion the cookies gained’t get soggy or squished throughout storage.
Add pumpkin spice. Add a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice or floor cinnamon to the cream cheese filling.
Use one other filling. You may fill these pumpkin whoopie pies with one other taste of frosting. Strive my brown sugar frosting, or borrow the maple frosting from my pumpkin cake recipe.
What to Serve with Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
These gentle, fluffy pumpkin whoopie pies are a scrumptious deal with with a heat mug of espresso, tea, or a comfy pumpkin spice hot chocolate within the afternoon. They’re additionally a enjoyable dessert for Halloween events, fall gatherings, and Thanksgiving. Listed here are some straightforward concepts:
The right way to Retailer
Fridge: These pumpkin whoopie pies are advantageous to maintain at room temperature in case you’re serving them inside 2 hours. As a result of cream cheese filling, nonetheless, it’s finest to maintain them refrigerated after that. Retailer them hermetic for as much as 3-4 days within the fridge.
Freezer: Wrap your whoopie pies or retailer them hermetic and preserve them frozen for as much as 3 months. Defrost the whoopie pies within the fridge earlier than serving.
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Within the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar collectively on medium pace for two minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, and blend till mixed, scraping the perimeters of the bowl as vital.
In a separate bowl, whisk collectively the dry components.
With the mixer on low, add 1/3 of the dry components to the bowl with the moist components, adopted by 1/3 of the buttermilk. Alternate including dry components and buttermilk till effectively integrated, starting and ending with the dry components.
Colour the batter orange utilizing orange meals coloring. Chances are you’ll want so as to add kind of relying on the kind of meals coloring you’re utilizing. Combine the batter on low till the colour is even, scraping down the perimeters of the bowl.
Switch the cookie batter to a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with the nook snipped off.
Pipe the batter in pumpkin shapes (sort of a fats coronary heart form) on the ready baking sheet. Go away about 2 inches of area between every cookie.
Bake at 375ºF for about 6 minutes, or till the cookies are set.
Let the cookies cool on baking sheet for two minutes, after which switch to a wire rack to complete cooling.
Filling
Within the clear bowl of your stand mixer (or hand-held mixer) beat collectively the butter and cream cheese till easy.
On low pace, add in vanilla and powdered sugar.
Flip the mixer pace as much as medium and beat till mixed, scraping the perimeters of the bowl as wanted.
Use a piping bag or spatula to unfold one half of every cookie with cream cheese filling. Place the second half of every cookie over the filling to create a sandwich.
Embellish as desired.
Notes
Retailer hermetic at room temperature for as much as 5 days
