Tis the season … pumpkin spice season that is. It’s time to bust out the fall sweaters, boots, pick some apples and embrace all things pumpkin spice. My favorite fall flavor combination is pumpkin and cranberry, so when I received this recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies with cranberries inside, I knew it was going to be an instant fall favorite for me. I’m always looking for new and delicious pumpkin spice recipes and these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Dulce De Leche Filling from Dorie Greenspan’s new cookbook will definitely be a fall favorite for years to come.
I’ve been involved with one of my favorite charities – Cookies for Kids Cancer – for several years now, after first participating in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap about four years back, and even hosting bake sales at work to benefit the charity. So when OXO came up with the Bake a Difference with OXO For Cookies for Kids’ Cancer campaign, I got my spatula and quickly jumped onboard. We were given a sneak peek of recipes from Dorie Greenspan’s new book that comes out at the end of October. I picked this Pumpkin Whoopie Pie recipe to try because I’ve never made whoopie pies before and definitely wanted to follow a recipe for my first time.
Not only is the pumpkin cranberry flavor combo one of the best parts about this recipe, I also love that could use a hand-mixer and didn’t have to bust out my big counter-top mixer to bake these. For this recipe I used my OXO Illuminating Digital Hand Mixer, Medium Silicone Spatula, Non-Stick Pro 12 Cup Muffin Pan and Medium Cookie Scoop.
I have a collection of these cookie scoops now that I use to ensure even-size muffins, cookies, and in this case, whoopie pies. It’s definitely one of my must-have kitchen tools. The non-stick muffin tin was perfect for this recipe because I didn’t have to use paper liners to prevent the whoopie pies from sticking to the tin, and the micro-textured pattern ensures even baking – meaning all my whoopie pies were evenly baked at the same time. Whoopie!
Now, given this was my first foray into making whoopie (pies) I definitely had some lessons learned for next time. I overfilled the muffin tins a bit too high, so the cookies came out a little more like muffins than intended. You can also bake these on a cookie sheet instead of the muffin tin, but this muffin tin method keeps them from spreading too much.
Next time I’ll just have to use two tins and fill them halfway. So some of the whoopie pies came out looking like a muffin filled with creamy fluff, like the photo below, but looks don’t matter in the baking world – these still tasted amazing. The only change I made to the recipe for the whoopie pies was instead of using cardamom (since I didn’t have it on hand) I swapped in nutmeg, a favorite fall spice of mine. And after one bite of these my loyal taste testing sister-in-law said that these “taste like Christmas.” Translation: two thumbs way up!
The dulce de leche filling adds an amazing flavor that compliments the pumpkin and cranberry cookie. I was not able to find canned dulce de leche in my grocery store, so we made our own over a double boiler on the stove using a can of sweetened condensed milk. That was the most time consuming part of this recipe to just continually whisk the condensed milk until it caramelized a bit and turned into dulce de leche, but the amazing flavor was definitely worth the wait! Mixed with marshmallow fluff and powdered sugar, my only regret about the sweet filling was that I didn’t make more of it. I would recommend doubling the filling recipe so that you can be extra generous when making these whoopie pies.
For a first attempt at whoopie pies, I’d have to consider this recipe a huge success. The pies didn’t last long at all at the house, and kept well in the fridge for the two days that they lasted, though I do recommend eating them the same day you bake them to really enjoy the best flavor. So if you’re looking to up the ante on your pumpkin spice baking this fall, definitely whip up at batch of these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Dulce De Leche Filling for a good cause!
Yield: 16 Whoopie Pies
Prep Time: 1 Hour
Cook Time: 12 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour 12 Minutes
Recipe from Dorie’s Cookies by Dorie Greenspan