Pumpkin-Spiced Whoopie Pies with Fluffy Maple Filling

These are THE BEST whoopie pies that I have ever tasted or for that matter, baked in my kitchen. I am seriously impressed with this recipe! They were so light and airy, that the first taste was like biting into a sweet, pumpkin-spiced maple cloud. After that taste, I just knew that these would be a hit at the Election Day bake sale that the PTA at my daughter's school held outside of the polls. I was right! When I walked in to vote late this afternoon, I noticed that my whoopie pies had all sold. One of the young ladies directing voters overheard me talking to the mom who was working the bake sale table. She asked, "You made those? Those were amazing! I had one this morning. Oh. My. Gosh."(or something like that. I was slightly distracted by the list of my preferred candidates running through my head) I'd like to say that I was humble, but I wasn't. She was right on the money. And so I answered, "Yep. I know. They were amazing." As a matter of fact, I wish that I hadn't given them all away to the bake sale. I only ate half of a whoopie pie, splitting it with my husband. I could definitely go for another Pumpkin Spiced Whoopie Pie right now.

I found this recipe on La Bella Cook. The preparation method did include 2 steps that I found different from other whoopie pie recipes I have prepared. First of all, it calls for the batter to be refrigerated for an hour before scooping it up and dropping it onto the baking sheets. Then, once on the sheets, it needs to sit for another 10 minutes before going into the oven. I wonder if these steps are partly responsible for the airy texture of these whoopie pies...

Here's what I did:

First, I creamed the butter and two sugars together until fluffy. I think I beat mine for more than 2 minutes.



Mix in vegetable oil. Then add 3 eggs to the batter, one at a time. Beat after each addition, until incorporated.



Dump in a can of pumpkin and mix that in too.



Measure all of the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg....



then sift them together.



Add the dry ingredients to the batter alternately



with the milk.



Beat until all ingredients are combined and then...stop! Don't overmix. Now cover the batter and pop it into the fridge for an hour.



The recipe called to line my baking sheets with parchment paper and then spray them with non-stick cooking spray. I didn't have any parchment paper, so I just sprayed the baking sheets directly. Luckily, this worked well. No sticking. I didn't measure out the batter, I just used my medium cookie scoop and plopped the batter down onto the baking sheets (12 per sheet). I ended up with 48 cakes, or 24 whoopie pies, which meant that I had to bake them in 2 shifts. Once the batter sits on the sheets for 10 minutes, put them into the oven and bake. The recipe called to bake them for 20 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. When I checked mine at 10 minutes to rotate, they were nearly done. I ended up baking them for 12 minutes total.



Remove the cakes to cooling racks and cool completely.



While the cakes cooled, I mixed up the filling. Sift 1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar and add it to two sticks of room temperature butter.



Mix until fluffy, about 2 minutes.



Then add in 7 oz of marshmallow fluff and 2 teaspoons of maple flavoring. Beat until combined.



It will look something like this:



Now spread or pipe the filling onto half of the pumpkin spiced cakes. Tip: Don't spread the filling too close to the edges. Once you place the tops on, the filling will "smoosh" out a bit. If you keep the filling toward the center when you put it on, then it's less likely to ooze over the edges, causing a case of messy fingers when enjoying this treat.



Top em' off, turning them into beautiful examples of sweet sandwich perfection...


Enjoy!



Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Marshmallow Cream
Adapted from Bon Appetit by La Bella Cook and then by me

FILLING
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme
2 teaspoons maple extract

CAKE
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

FILLING
Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add marshmallow creme and maple extract; beat until blended and smooth. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

CAKE
Sift first 7 ingredients into large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in another large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in oil. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend between additions. Beat in pumpkin. Add dry ingredients in 2 additions alternately with milk in 1 addition, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Cover and chill batter 1 hour.

Arrange 1 rack in bottom third of oven and 1 rack in top third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment; spray lightly with nonstick spray. Spoon batter onto baking sheet to form cakes; about 12 per baking sheet, spacing apart. Let stand 10 minutes.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking. Cool cakes completely on baking sheets on rack. Using metal spatula, remove cakes from parchment.
Line cooled baking sheets with clean parchment; spray with nonstick spray, and repeat baking with remaining batter.

Spoon about 2 tablespoons filling on flat side of 1 cake. Top with another cake, flat side down. Repeat with remaining cakes and filling. DO AHEAD Can be made 8 hours ahead. Store in single layer in airtight container at room temperature.

Notes: Be sure to spray or grease your baking sheets. I didn't use parchment paper and it worked fine.

I used my medium cookie scoop for the batter and the recipe yielded about 48 cakes or 24 whoopie pies.

I must have used more filling than recommended per whoopie pie, because I only had enough filling for 19. Next time I will multiply the recipe times 1.5

Did I mention that Whoopie Pies freeze well? They do! Double or triple this recipe and then freeze to enjoy through the fall or winter!

For more Whoopie Pies, check out my post about Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Whoopie Pies and Red Velvet Whoopie Pies HERE.

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