halloween guest post (with Cuppy from Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others)

Hello & happy fall everyone! My name is Cuppy & I'm the pink-haired cupcake/baking aficionado behind Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others.

In effort to ease my post summer strawberry blues, I usually jump full-force into fall baking with a frenzy of pumpkin flavored treats.

One of my newest & most fun treats to make is mini pumpkin whoopie pies! Kinda makes your mouth start watering just thinking about it, no?

As a budding pastry chef, I try to add new (and easy) "go to" items to my baking repertoire to make on a whim when I'm feeling like I need something sweet to nosh on OR for a really nice treat to bring when going to a get together or having friends over.

I think these cute little whoopie pies will please just about everyone!

PUMPKIN COOKIES:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature & slightly beaten
1 cup of 100% pure pumpkin (Cuppy tip - I use Libby's when I'm in a hurry but using 1 cup of cooked pumpkin adds extra "oomph" and worth it if you have the extra time to prepare a regular pumpkin)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

(Cuppy tip - I tend to use parchment paper on top of my cookie sheets. It's easier & cleaner!)

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, & salt in medium bowl & set aside. Beat butter & sugar in a large mixing bowl (I use my Kitchenaid mixer) on medium speed for approx. 2 minutes or until butter & sugar are mixed well & seem "fluffy". Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract & beat until smooth (about a minute or two). Slowly mix in the dry ingredients you have set aside until combined. Once mixture is all combined together, it should look like this:
Drop heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. You should get roughly 50-60 cookies total (depending on how big you make them).

Bake for 10-13 minutes or until the cookies feel "springy" to the touch. Cool on baking sheets for about 5-10 minutes; remove & place on wire racks to cool completely for another 20 or so.

Finished cookies should look like this:

(Cuppy tip - I tend to let the cookies cool overnight before I make the cream cheese filling & assemble them. I don't necessarily think you have to do that, it's just my own personal preference & that way you know for sure that everything is fully cooled before adding a filling that could potentially melt if added too soon.

CREAM CHEESE FILLING (which can also be used as a simple "go to" frosting for cupcakes, cakes or any other goodie you like to add cream cheese frosting to!)

** The following recipe should be enough to fill all the cookies in this recipe but I personally like to add a bit more frosting in these particular cookies so I usually double this recipe. If you want to do that too, just take everything listed below and multiply by two. **

4 ounces of cream cheese (I use Philadelphia) at room temperature.
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese, butter & vanilla extract in a medium mixing bowl on medium speed until it's fully blended & fluffy. Gradually add in the powdered sugar until everything is fully incorporated & again, really fluffy.

Place a heaping teaspoon (or so) of filling onto the flat side of one of the cookies & top with the flat side of a second cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies & filling.

The final product should look like this:

You can store your whoopie pies in a covered container in the fridge.
Last but not least, ENJOY & share with your friends & loved ones!

I hope you have fun making these yummy whoopie pies !!!

xoxoxo Cuppy