Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies

The smells of fall are intoxicating--wet leaves, the inside of a freshly carved pumpkin, bonfires, and of course the smells coming from fall baking in the kitchen.

Pumpkin bread, spice muffins, maple scones, apple cakes, I've made them all.  But I ventured to try something new this week: Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies.

I live in Pennsylvania Dutch country, so we come across whoopie pies at nearly every Mennonite or Amish farm stand in the area.  While I tend not to be a fan of this dense, grainy, and super sweet confection, the ones I made using Wilton's recipe and tools were delicious.

I was sent a Harvest Whoopie Pie pan and a variety of embellishments like sprinkles, melting chocolates and sanding sugars to create some delicious treats.

Wilton's Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies are light and reminiscent of a pumpkin bread sandwiching a cream cheese filling.  The Harvest Whoopie Pie pan and its pumpkin and leaf shapes makes the dessert even more special.

PUMPKIN SPICE WHOOPIE PIES (makes 15)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspooon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup solid pack pumpkin
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Filling
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray the pan with vegetable oil (I recommend flouring the pan too, to prevent sticking).  In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cloves. In large bowl, beat butter and granulated sugar with electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with pumpkin and buttermilk, mixing thoroughly after each addition.  Fill pan 1/2 full, spreading batter to edges of cavities.

Bake 7-9 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Cool in pan 5 minutes; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely before filling.

For filling, beat cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla together until well combined. To assemble, spread filling on one cake and sandwich with another.

I embellished mine with some leaf sprinkles by dipping the edges in a bowl of them.

 I had a little sprinkle-tasting help.  They passed inspection with flying fall colors.

Wilton's Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies are a delicious way to add some variety into your fall baking.  I can definitely see using the pan for other fall treats like cookies and shortbread.

You can find more recipes, materials and baking inspiration at Wilton.com or via their Facebook page, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Disclosure: I received sample products from Wilton to facilitate this review.  All opinions are my own.