Pumpkin Whoopie Pie
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. Crisco
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. canned cooked pumpkin
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 c. all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
3/4 t. nutmeg
3/4 t. cloves
Maple Butter Cream
1/2 c. unsalted butter at room temperature
2 c. powdered sugar
1 T. milk
2 T pure maple syrup
OR
Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
4 T. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
To make the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet with either parchment paper or a Silpat mat. If you are using a whoopie pie pan, spray coat it with nonstick spray.
Combine the butter, shortening and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream together and add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla. In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour through cloves. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 1/3 increments, creaming together on medium each time and scraping the sides of the bowl in between.
Using a medium sized ice cream scoop, scoop the batter and drop onto cookie sheet, separating each cookie by two inches. You will only get three across and three down but they spread out so leave enough room in between. Spray one of your palms with nonstick spray and lightly press each cookie down to help it flatten out a bit. These tend to be fluffy whoopies.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a cookie comes out clean. The cookie should be soft to the touch but bounce back when gently pressed. Cool for 10 minutes on the pan and then remove and place on cooling racks for an hour until completely cooled.
To make the Maple Butter Cream:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a balloon whisk, cream butter and then add powdered sugar, milk and syrup, beating until smooth. Add an extra 1/4 c. powdered sugar if the frosting is not setting up or is too runny. Place buttercream in a ziploc bag and push all the buttercream to one bottom corner so you can use it as a pastry bag later. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
To make the Cream Cheese Frosting:
Cream together the cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and combine on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Place cream cheese frosting in ziploc bag like above. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
To use the ziploc bag as a pastry bag, simply snip off about 1/8 inch of the corner of the bag (the one that has the frosting pushed towards it). Hold the ziploc in your hand and gently push the frosting out the snipped corner.
Pumpkin Pie Shake
1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp brown sugar
7-10 Ice cubes
Blend all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Pumpkin Spice Protein Smoothie
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup almond milk
2 frozen bananas
2 dates
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
sprinkle of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger
Blend all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Pumpkin Spice Protein Smoothie? My mouth is watering now.
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DIY fairy jars for Halloween.
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