Amish Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
These Pumpkin Whoopie Pies sandwich two soft, lightly-spiced pumpkin cookies around a velvety cream cheese Ermine Frosting — lighter and less sweet than a standard cream cheese filling. Ready in about 1.5 hours.
Whoopie Pie or Gob?
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies are not really pies. Whoopie pies are made by sandwiching together two cakes to form kind-of a cookie. Weird, but whether you think of them as cakes, cookies or pies, they’re a real American treat.
Whoopies pies are as American as Apple Pie, but the exact state of origin is up for debate.
Since I live in the great state of Pennsylvania, I will endorse the theory that Whoopies pies were invented by Amish bakers. Supposedly, the name came from exclamations of “whoopie” whenever mom made the special treat. That totally makes sense to me.
Although I adore the name “Whoopie Pie”, these treats are also known as “gobs” in specific areas of my state.
What Sets These Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Apart?
The batter for the cookie portion of the whoopie pie is made with a combination of butter and oil. Butter has great flavor and oil stays soft at room temperature. Using a combination makes a tasty, soft and moist cookie.
But the real star in these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies is the velvety cream cheese Ermine Frosting. Ermine frosting is light like buttercream, but not as sweet. The filling is rich, not too sweet and a bit tangy from a generous portion of cream cheese.
Ingredient Notes
- All purpose flour – Medium protein all purpose flour makes a cookie that has enough structure to rise high in the oven, but also has a tender crumb.
- Pumpkin Puree – Make sure you use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Canned pumpkin puree is very consistent in flavor and water level. If you use homemade pureed pumpkin make sure it not too wet. Blot the pumpkin with paper towels to remove excess moisture if your puree is very moist.
- Brown Sugar – Brown sugar hold more moisture than granulated sugar. These whoopie pies stay nice and moist after baking thanks to the brown sugar. The molasses flavor from the brown sugar perfectly complements the pumpkin and spice.
- Spices – If you have a pre-mixed pumpkin spice blend you can use 2 teaspoons of the spice mix in place of the spices listed in the recipe.
How to make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling
Here’s what the recipe process looks like at each stage. Refer to the recipe card below for measurements and exact instructions.
Make The Cookies
- Sift the dry ingredients onto a piece of parchment paper.
- Mix the wet ingredients together, then alternate adding the dry ingredients and pumpkin puree to the bowl.
- The batter is fairly thick with a texture between a cake batter and cookie dough.
- Portion the batter with a cookie scoop or tablespoon. The batter doesn’t spread, so use a moistened hand to flatten the cookies slightly.
- Bake until the center of a cookie springs back when lightly pressed.
- Cool completely before filling.
Make The Cream Cheese Ermine Frosting
- Cook the flour milk and sugar together over medium heat in a small saucepan.
- Cook until the mixture it is thick like pudding.
- Whip the butter and cream cheese until light and aerated
- Add the pudding and mix it until combined.
- Switch to the whisk.
- Whip until the frosting is light and fluffy like whipped cream.
Assemble the Whoopie Pies
- Flip over half the cookies and pipe the cream cheese frosting onto the bottoms.
- Sandwich the cookies.
Storage
Because of the cream cheese in the filling, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies should be refrigerated after 2-3 hours at room temperature.
Can You Freeze Pumpkin Whoopie Pies?
Yes, either before or after filling you can freeze Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. In fact, they are quite nice straight from the freezer.
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Amish Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 17 ½ oz all purpose flour (3 ½ cups, see note)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 4 oz unsalted butter (½ cup, room temperature)
- 16 oz light brown sugar (2 cups)
- 3 ½ oz vegetable oil (½ cup)
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 15 oz pumpkin puree (1 ¾ cups)
Cream Cheese Filling
- 12 oz granulated sugar (1 ½ cups)
- 2 ½ oz all purpose flour (½ cup)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 12 oz whole milk (1 ½ cups)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 8 oz unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
Instructions
Make the cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Sift together 17 ½ oz all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves. Set aside
- In a large mixing bowl, cream 4 oz unsalted butter with 16 oz light brown sugar until light and aerated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. With the mixer running, slowly add 3 ½ oz vegetable oil½ teaspoon lemon extract. Scrape the bowl. Add 2 large eggs and mix to combine.
- Alternate adding the flour mixture and 15 oz pumpkin puree, starting and ending with the flour. Scrape the bowl between additions of flour.
- For small whoopie pies, use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a larger scoop or ¼ cup measure to make large whoopie pies. Moisten your hand with water and tap the tops of the cookies to flatten slightly.
- Bake until the cookies spring back when pressed in the center and are lightly browned around the edges, 10-12 minutes for small cookies or 12-15 minutes for larger cookies.
- Cool completely before filling. At this point the cookies can be wrapped and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Make the cream cheese filling
- Combine 12 oz granulated sugar, 2 ½ oz all purpose flour and ¼ teaspoon salt in a saucepan, whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in 12 oz whole milk until smooth. Heat the mixture over medium low, whisking constantly, until it begins to boil.
- Continue to cook and stir for 2-3 minutes until it thickens to a pudding-like texture. Immediately remove from the heat. Transfer to a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon lemon extract and cool to room temperature.
- In a mixing bowl, cream 8 oz unsalted butter until smooth. Scrape the bowl. With the mixer running, toss in 8 oz cream cheese and mix until smooth. Scrape down the bowl, switch to whisk and add the milk paste. Turn the speed to high and whip until light and fluffy.
- Flip half the cookies over. Pipe or spoon a generous dollop of filling on the flat side of the flipped cookies and sandwich with the remaining cookies.
- The cookies will keep for 3-4 days, refrigerated. Best eaten at room temperature.
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