Whoopie Pies Take 2

The other day I tried my hardest and could not find canned pure pumpkin anywhere! Today, however, I finally found it and decided to celebrate by making pumpkin whoopie pies! I found a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip whoopie pies, and decided to make a few changes and swap out the chocolate chips for butterscotch chips. I paired the cookie part of that recipe with a maple pecan filling using some of the extra maple glaze (about 1/3 cup) I had in the fridge from the carrot cake I made a while ago mixed with some marshmallow fluff and pecans (among other things).

Pumpkin Maple Whoopie Pies

yield: around 18 cookies (or 9 pies)

for the cookies:

1/4 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. light brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. canned pumpkin puree

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 c. butterscotch chips

for the maple pecan filling:

1/3 c. maple glaze (about 1/5 of the recipe)*

1/2 jar marshmallow fluff

2 tbsp. maple syrup

1 1/2 c. confectioner's sugar

1/3 c. chopped pecans

dash of cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F, and line a baking sheet with a silpat (or parchment paper).
2. Cream butter and sugars in a mixer. Beat in the egg, then add the vanilla and pumpkin puree and mix until well-combined.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Slowly add this to the butter mixture and combine until just combined. Fold in butterscotch chips.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the top of the cookie springs back when pressed lightly. Transfer to a wire rack immediately to cool.
5. To make the filling, combine all the ingredients, and mix until smooth.
6. After the cookies are completely cooled, sandwich two together with the filling.

* since making 1/5 of the recipe of the maple glaze is ridiculous, you can just mix 2/3 of a jar of marshmallow fluff with 3-4 tbsp. maple syrup, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/3 c. chopped pecans, and about 2 (or 2 1/2) c. confectioner's sugar for the filling (2 tbsp. of low fat cream cheese might taste good in it too)

These may be more appropriate for the fall, but are really good any time of year! I've been told that they are also quite good on their own just as pumpkin-butterscotch cookies, or you could even use them to make ice cream sandwiches with vanilla, dulce de leche, butter pecan, or any other ice cream!

Enjoy!

Update: I just ate one...these might just be my new favorite food...they're seriously good! The combination of pumpkin, pecan, maple, and butterscotch was so good...now I'm really glad I decided to use those butterscotch chips - they made all the difference!

Carrot Cake with Maple Glaze

This is one of those recipes that I saw a long time ago and keep thinking "I should try that" then forget! So I finally got around to making it and am glad that I did! It is based on the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen's "Famous Carrot Cake Cupcakes" recipe with the maple icing, but changed a bit to un-vegan-ize it...

Carrot Cake with Maple Glaze

for the cake:

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. light brown sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 heaping tsp. ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp. sea salt

1 large peeled carrot, shredded

1 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

1 tbsp. butter, softened

1 generous tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. chopped pecans

1/3 c. raisins

1/4 c. sweetened shredded coconut

for the glaze:

4 c. confectioners’ sugar

4 tbsp. maple

2 tbsp. butter, softened

2 tbsp. low fat cream cheese

1/4 c. skim milk

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9" cake pan.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, soda, sugar, salt & cinnamon in a medium bowl.
3. In a mixer bowl, mix applesauce, butter, vanilla, and carrot. Add dry mix to wet mix 1/2 cup at a time.
4. Once blended, fold in walnuts, raisins, and coconut.
   
5. Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the middle springs back if you lightly press it.
6. Once it is out of the oven, transfer it to a wire rack to cool.
7. While it is cooling, make the frosting.
8. In a mixer bowl, beat the butter, maple syrup, cream cheese, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla until well-blended.
9. Next, slowly mix in the confectioner's sugar until the glaze reaches the desired consistency (a little less sugar will make it more of a glaze, a little more will make it more of a frosting).
10. Once the cake is cool to the touch, top with the glaze and serve!

I decorated my cake with some marzipan maple leaves, which I made by dying some marzipan orange, rolling it out between 2 sheets of wax paper, then using a mini maple leaf-shaped cookie cutter to cut out 3 maple leaves.

Bon Appetit!