Do-it-yourself pumpkin whoopie pies are a festive fall dessert comprised of moist and tender pumpkin-shaped cookies full of candy cream cheese filling.
These lovely pumpkin sandwich cookies are the right deal with to make for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and past. Should you love these, strive my Apple Butter Whoopie Pies, too!
I’ve so many pumpkin desserts for fall, however immediately’s recipe is a bit of totally different. These pumpkin whoopie pies positively put the “pumpkin” in “pumpkin dessert”, as a result of they’re truly formed like plump little pumpkins! This can be a enjoyable fall twist on whoopie pies made with creamy cream cheese filling sandwiched between smooth and fluffy “orange velvet” cookies. These do-it-yourself pumpkin whoopie pies couldn’t be simpler to make and so they’re excellent for adorning, irrespective of the event.
Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Recipe
Comfortable, chewy sandwich cookies. These cookies are primarily chocolatey purple velvet cookies, dyed pumpkin orange for fall. They’re melt-in-your-mouth smooth, 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.
Straightforward to customise. Adapt the flavors of those whoopie pies and the way you enhance them relying on the event. They’re nice to make for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or any fall gathering.
Substances 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 complete 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: Gentle brown sugar provides the cookies a deeper, extra caramelized taste. Common granulated sugar additionally works right here, the flavour simply received’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, smooth, completely puffed cookies. Should you don’t have buttermilk, see my put up on how to make a buttermilk substitute.
Meals Coloring: You’ll want orange meals dye for coloring the cookie batter, and some 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 referred to as confectioner’s sugar, powdered sugar thickens the filling.
Methods to Make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Get able to whoop it up! Right here’s how simple it’s to make excellent 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, a bit of at a time, to realize your required coloration. Gel meals dyes are stronger, and also you’ll want much less coloration in consequence. 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 as well 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. You should definitely 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 shortly, and also you wish to take them out whereas they’re nonetheless barely underbaked. They need to be simply set, and nonetheless a bit of smooth 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. Make it possible for 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 velocity and provides the frosting a great 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 kind a sandwich.
Methods to Beautify Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
As soon as your pumpkin whoopie pies are assembled, you may get inventive with methods to embellish! Listed below are some concepts:
Pumpkin Stems: Damaged mini pretzels make excellent 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 additional cream cheese frosting or a batch of regular buttercream frosting to make use of when adorning your whoopie pies. Shade 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 Ideas and Variations
Observe the following pointers for the most effective pumpkin whoopie pies, plus some simple variations to strive:
Use room temperature components. Room-temperature butter and cream cheese mix extra easily with the opposite components, and the cookies will bake extra evenly in consequence.
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 can also make these pumpkin whoopie pies as massive or as small as you’d like, however guarantee that the cookies are comparable in dimension whenever you pipe them onto the baking sheet.This manner every cookie may 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 organize these whoopie pies a day or two forward, make the cookies and filling, after which retailer the parts individually. You’ll be able to assemble the pumpkin whoopie pies earlier than serving. This manner the cookies received’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’ll be able to 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 smooth, fluffy pumpkin whoopie pies are a scrumptious deal with with a heat mug of espresso, tea, or a comfortable pumpkin spice hot chocolate within the afternoon. They’re additionally a enjoyable dessert for Halloween events, fall gatherings, and Thanksgiving. Listed below are some simple concepts:
Methods to Retailer
Fridge: These pumpkin whoopie pies are positive to maintain at room temperature should you’re serving them inside 2 hours. As a result of cream cheese filling, nevertheless, it’s greatest 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 maintain 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 velocity for two minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, and blend till mixed, scraping the edges 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.
Shade the batter orange utilizing orange meals coloring. It’s possible you’ll want so as to add roughly relying on the kind of meals coloring you’re utilizing. Combine the batter on low till the colour is even, scraping down the edges 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 (form 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 velocity, add in vanilla and powdered sugar.
Flip the mixer velocity as much as medium and beat till mixed, scraping the edges 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.
Beautify as desired.
Notes
Retailer hermetic at room temperature for as much as 5 days
