Pumpkin whoopie pies

I wanted to try whoopie pies for Thanksgiving, and what better flavor for the season than pumpkin?  I spent a fair amount of time trying to find a recipe that doesn't use Crisco; I knew that would be unacceptable to Sister Sara and I'm also generally grossed out by it.

Here they are--pretty good for a first run.

I adapted the recipe from one I found on allrecipes.com:

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies:
  For the cookie portion:

• 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 unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups of packed pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the sugar and butter until fluffy, then add the eggs by incorporating them one at a time.  Then the pumpkin and vanilla.  Once that is all well combined, add the sifted dry ingredients.

Bake at 350 on parchment paper lined cookie sheets for about 10-12 minutes. I used a little cookie dough scoop to try to keep them about the same size.

I covered them since I made them a day ahead and filled them on Thanksgiving day with cream cheese frosting. I covered them tightly and would not be so rigid about that the next time--they were a bit sticky the next day.

Since I really don't like pumpkin and Thanksgiving is a day that I absolutely want my sweets, I had to bring a couple of stand-by desserts in case there were others who would not be interested in that flavor.

I set up a dessert bar that consisted of the pumpkin whoopie pies, Reese's peanut butter cup brownies, chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream frosting, red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and a triple chocolate cheesecake.

So now it's back to the regular routine of work and school around our house...we are all looking forward to more holiday family time in December!