Let the week of horrible eating continue!! I swear, I am taking a major break from baking and sugar. Back to healthy eating next week! But, for now, the sugar rush keeps going! Tomorrow is officially the first day of fall, my most favoritest time of the year! I wanted to celebrate with something special for you all. I’ve never made whoopie pies. They’ve been on my list of things I want to make for some time and I decided it was time to give them a try. I originally wanted to make pumpkin whoopies, but my dear husband wouldn’t touch them and God forbid if I make a baked good and he can’t enjoy it too! So, I opted for chocolate whoopie pies with plain cream cheese frosting for him and pumpkin cream cheese frosting for me. There. We both get our way!

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes approximately 24 whoopie pies
Cake recipe from Martha Stewart

Ingredients for the Cake:

– 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

– 1 1/2 cups natural, unsweetened cocoa powder

– 1 teaspoon salt

– 1 tablespoon baking soda

– 1 teaspoon baking powder

– 1 cups unsalted butter (2 sticks) at room temperature

– 2 cups sugar

– 2 large eggs at room temperature

– 2 cups buttermilk at room temperature

– 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray whoopie pie pan with non-stick cooking spray. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl, set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until well-combined. Slowly add in the flour mixture until combined.

3. Drop approximately 2 tablespoons of the batter into each cavity of the pan (or drop directly onto a greased cookie sheet if you don’t have a whoopie pan). Here is where I had an issue. I overfilled mine on the first batch. See:

Here is a comparison of the first and second batch. The first batch is on the left. You can see that they puffed up too much. I didn’t really measure 2 tablespoons exactly the first time around. For the second batch, I did 2 leveled tablespoons of batter and I also tried to spread it a little into the cavity and this made a big difference! After filling each cavity, bake for approximately 9-11 minutes (mine took exactly 9 mins. with the whoopie pan). Cake should be “springy” to the touch. Let cool completely before frosting.

Ingredients for the Pumpkin Filling:

– 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened

– 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter

– 1/3 cup can pumpkin puree

– 4 cups confectioner’s sugar

– 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

– 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and pumpkin. 1 cup at a time, add confectioner’s sugar. Add vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Mix until well-combined. If your frosting seems too liquidy, try sticking it in the fridge before filling your whoopie pies!!

Notes:
– I didn’t stuff too much frosting into my whoopie pies so if you want to add more filling to yours, you might want to make extra frosting!

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