SPICED PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES

 These cookies are super easy to make, yet look fabulous, so they’re perfect for Fall entertaining!  The pumpkin flavor is strong, but not overpowering, and perfectly paired with the sweet and slightly nutty browned butter maple cinnamon frosting.

Here we go, my first pumpkin recipe of the season… are you psyched?  Did I really just say psyched?  Lol.  These cookies are pretty much amazing… although I can’t take full credit for them.  I found them in an issue of Better Homes and Gardens (Fall Baking edition), and made a few little tweaks (as I always do lol).  These cookies are no ordinary cookies… they’re whoopie pies, which is just about the most fun type of dessert.  Just saying it leaves you with a smile on your face!

The cookie part of these is really straightforward and simple… the hardest part is not eating the soft cookies when they come out of the oven lol.

INGREDIENTS
SPICED PUMPKIN COOKIES:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 2 cups brown sugar packed
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup butter melted and cooled
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 cup canned pumpkin NOT pumpkin pie filling
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

BROWNED BUTTER FROSTING:

• 5 Tbsp butter
• 4 oz cream cheese softened
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• pinch of ground cloves
• 3 - 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the first 8 ingredients (through nutmeg) and set aside.
4. To the bowl of a stand mixer, add melted butter, oil, and brown sugar and beat until combined.
5. Add in eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla and beat for about 1 minute.
6. Add in the flour mixture, a little at a time, beating until just combined after each addition. Batter will look like thick cake batter at this point.
7. Use a small cookie scoop or Tbsp measuring spoon and scoop batter onto baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
8. ......................................

for full recipes please see : www.thechunkychef.com

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