Soft, moist, airy, spicy, and perfectly pumpkiny little cookies sandwiched together with a layer of decadent vanilla cream cheese frosting. The perfect fall treat!
I mean I don’t think it gets much better than pumpkin and cream cheese together so of course they had to come together in another thing that I love: whoopie pies! I mean how can you resist a cute little pie sitting there waiting to be eaten? I sure can’t! And these whoopie pies in particular are very, very addicting dangerous. You have been warned.
Alright let’s talk about these bad boys and what’s in them!
So it all begins with a very light, airy, moist, and rich cookie that is made with pretty wholesome ingredients. The cookies start with a base of coconut oil, pumpkin, sugar, and eggs plus an egg yolk. Why the egg yolk? Well the egg yolk adds another element of richness and chewiness which makes for some killer cookies. I’m a big fan of fat soft cookies. Who isn’t? So to that mixture gets added flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. And baking soda and milk get mixed together before getting added to the pumpkin mixture to create a little magical reaction which is the secret to how fluffy and airy these cookies are. So that mixture, along with vanilla extract, get added to the main mixture making an amazing soft cookie dough which will not disappoint you by spreading out and getting all flat and crunchy in the oven (thanks to that baking soda, milk, and that extra egg yolk!).
Now for the frosting AKA the filling.
That starts with butter and cream cheese, both very soft so they combine easily, then powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla bean extract get added to make a wonder rich and slightly tangy filling to make these amazing whoopie pies!
Have you ever tried vanilla bean paste? You must! I buy the HUGE bottle cause I use so much…oops!
May I have a bowl full please?
Hey did you know that you can also make these open-faced and just plop some frosting on top? You should try it! 😉
Let’s bake them!
Start by preheating the oven to 350F (177C or gas 4) and line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking pad or parchment paper. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed beat together the pumpkin, sugar, coconut oil, egg, and egg yolk until combined. (There will be little chunks of the coconut oil if any of the ingredients are cold or if the room is cold; that’s ok.) Set that mixture aside. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt set aside. In a very small bowl whisk together the baking soda and milk. Add that to the pumpkin mixture in the stand mixer on low speed, along with vanilla extract, then slowly add the flour mixture scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. You can also do all of this in a large bowl with a hand mixer. Beat on low speed until all combined and you have a nice soft cookie dough. Spoon the cookie dough in rounds onto the prepared cookie sheet with a little bit of space between cookies. You will need to bake the cookies in batches depending on the size of your baking sheet. Bake the cookies for about 11-15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden as shown in the photos above. Once baked allow the cookies to cool completely on a cooling rack before filling and making into pies, about 30-45 minutes.
To making the filling/frosting combine soft cream cheese and unsalted butter. Beat them in a stand mixer or large bowl with a handheld mixer on medium-high speed then add powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla bean paste or extract. Beat until combined and smooth you may adjust the amounts to reach your desired consistency. Take one cookie and put the filling on the bottom of the cookie then take another cookie and do the same thing with another cookie and sandwich them together or just frost the top and serve them that way. They’re great both ways! 🙂
Now how darn easy was that? Such a cute, easy, and yummy dessert! I love those, don’t you?
Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 1½ Tablespoons canned pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 cup + 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 2 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons milk
- ½ Tablespoon vanilla extract
For the filling
- 8 oz 1 standard package cream cheese, very soft
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, very soft
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-5 Tablespoons heavy cream milk, or half and half
Instructions
To make the cookies
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large cookie sheet with a silicone baking pad or parchment paper, set aside.
- In a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer combine the pumpkin, sugar, coconut oil, egg, and egg yolk. Use the paddle attachment to beat it all together on medium-high speed until combined, set aside.
- 3 In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, set aside.
- In a very small bowl whisk together the baking soda and milk. Add that mixture to the pumpkin mixture in the stand mixer. Beat together on medium speed until combined, then on low speed add the vanilla extract. Once mixed slowly add the flour mixture on low-medium speed. Beat together into a dough.
- Spoon the dough into tall circles on the prepared cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Once baked remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before sandwiching. In the meantime make the filling.
To make the filling
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl with a hand mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and light then add 3 cups of powdered sugar, the vanilla paste or extract, and 2 tablespoons of the cream, milk, or half and half. Beat until combined. Adjust amounts to your desired constancy adding more cream or powdered sugar depending on if you want it thicker or thinner.
- Once the cookies are cool take one cookie put the filling on the bottom then take another cookie and sandwich them together. Continue with the remaining cookies.
- Pies stay fresh stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days or in the fridge for up to 7 days.
