Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Vanilla Rum Creme

I have had a craving for pumpkin whoopie pies for awhile now and of course to satisfy that craving I had to bake some of my own. I am almost over my craze for pumpkin, which of course will culminate with my yearly pumpkin creme brûlée, then I will retire my cans of pumpkin until next October.

Ingredients & Directions:

Filling:

• 1 C powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 7-oz jar marshmallow creme (fluff!)
• 1 tsp rum extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add marshmallow creme and rum & vanilla extract (other flavors could be used or you could add none if you so choose); beat until blended and smooth. Can be made ahead of time and let stand at room temperature for two hours.

Cake:

• 3 C all purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp ground cloves
• 6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 C (packed) golden brown sugar
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1/2 C vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 15-oz can pure pumpkin
• 1/2 C milk
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Sift first 7 ingredients into large bowl (Sifting is not required, but it’s something I like doing. If you have fresh ingredients it’s really not necessary, because you shouldn’t have to worry about lumps. I feel like it makes the recipe smoother and adds quality, but I will have to investigate this more)

Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in another large bowl until blended. Gradually beat in oil. Add eggs one 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 (tip: I only really chilled it for about 10 minutes, I was in a rush and they came out perfect, or at least I think so). While batter is chilling preheat oven to 350 degrees. You can either line your baking sheets with parchment or spray lightly with nonstick spray (Iused spray and they came off without a problem). Spoon batter onto baking sheet to form cakes (about 3 level tablespoons each; here is where you can be creative too: make larger ones or smaller ones depending on what you feel like), spacing apart. Let stand 10 minutes.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes (time may change if you make smaller or larger sized cakes). Cool cakes completely on cooling rack.

Using metal spatula, remove cakes from parchment. Spoon about 2 tablespoons filling on flat side of one cake. Top with another cake, flat side down. Repeat with remaining cakes and filling.

(Steven)