Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Really TrulyRead­ing my books, you could be excused for think­ing I’m a food­ie. I’m not — I just like to eat! And so do my char­ac­ters, appar­ent­ly. Food and recipes play a role in many of my sto­ries, includ­ing all three Pump­kin Falls mys­ter­ies. Set in a tiny fic­tion­al town in New Hamp­shire, the books chron­i­cle the adven­tures (and mis­ad­ven­tures) of mid­dle school pri­vate eye Tru­ly Love­joy, who moves to town with her fam­i­ly to help her father heal from an acci­dent while shoring up her grand­par­ents’ fal­ter­ing book­store. Truly’s aunt moves back home to help, too, and one of her many mar­ket­ing schemes involves serv­ing up sig­na­ture treats each after­noon. She’s firm in her con­vic­tion that cus­tomers will stop by for a snack and stay to shop — and it turns out she’s right. Books and food are a win­ning combination.

Which is true in real life as well as in fic­tion! This time of year finds Lovejoy’s Books serv­ing up Mini Pump­kin Whoop­ie Pies, a sea­son­al twist on a clas­sic New Eng­land treat. Here’s a recipe so you can do the same. As the days grow short­er and the nights longer, they’re just the thing to enjoy with a cup of tea and a good book.

AUNT TRUE’S MINI PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES

Pumpkin Whoopie PiesWhoop­ie Pies

  • 2 c. all-pur­pose flour
  • 1 tsp. bak­ing powder
  • 1 tsp. bak­ing soda
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. ground ginger
  • ½ tsp. ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp. ground cardamom
  • ¼ tsp. salt (only if using unsalt­ed but­ter, oth­er­wise omit)
  • 12 cup but­ter, softened
  • 1−1÷4 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room tem­per­a­ture, light­ly beaten
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 tsp. vanil­la extract
  • 2 T. molasses

Fill­ing

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 6 T. but­ter, softened
  • 12 tsp. vanil­la extract
  • 1 to 1−1÷2 c. pow­dered sugar

Pre­heat oven to 350° F.

Cream but­ter and sug­ar in a large bowl. Add eggs and beat well. Add pump­kin, vanil­la extract, and molasses; beat until smooth. In a sep­a­rate bowl, whisk flour, bak­ing pow­der, bak­ing soda, and spices. Add to pump­kin mix­ture and stir well.  Using a tea­spoon-sized cook­ie scoop (or a heap­ing tea­spoon), drop onto greased or parch­ment-lined cook­ie sheets.

Bake for about 12 min­utes, until the cook­ie springs back to the touch, or a tooth­pick insert­ed into cen­ter comes out clean.

Cool on bak­ing sheet for 5 min­utes, then trans­fer to wire rack to cool completely.

FOR FILLING:  Beat cream cheese, but­ter, and vanil­la until fluffy. Grad­u­al­ly mix in pow­dered sug­ar and beat until light and fluffy. Gen­er­ous­ly frost the flat side of one cook­ie with fill­ing, then top it with the flat side of anoth­er one to make a “sand­wich.”  Repeat with remain­ing cook­ies and filling.

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Leonora
Leonora
2 years ago

Loved your book! I also love mak­ing this pump­kin whoop­ie pies around Halloween.