{"id":1247,"date":"2013-10-31T23:30:54","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T03:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2013-10-31T23:43:25","modified_gmt":"2013-11-01T03:43:25","slug":"pumpkin-whoopie-pies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/pumpkin-whoopie-pies\/","title":{"rendered":"Pumpkin Whoopie Pies"},"content":{"rendered":"

I really, really used to dislike fall. \u00a0I’m beginning to wonder how much of my love affair with fall is actually about the season and how much of it is about the food that comes with it. \u00a0Seriously. \u00a0I am loving all things pumpkin and apple right now from muffins to lattes to biscotti to pies and dumplings and cheesecake. \u00a0There are hardly enough weeks to make all the fabulous desserts crowding my brain! \u00a0Which may or may not be why at only twenty-three weeks gestation no one, and I mean, no one<\/strong><\/em>, is wondering, is she or is she not pregnant? \u00a0We’ll just pretend that’s all baby and not baby padded with pumpkin.<\/p>\n

\"Oct<\/a><\/p>\n

One of my favorite fall treats is Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. \u00a0I used to sort of kind of like chocolate whoopie pies until I discovered the filling was made of Crisco. \u00a0Crisco? \u00a0Who does that?? \u00a0I mean, you may as well just dip a spoon into the can of crisco and eat it. \u00a0I think I’d rather be gagged with the spoon. \u00a0From then on, I could never look a whoopie pie straight in the face. \u00a0Then, I discovered the marvelously delicious marshmallow creme recipe in a cookbook from a friend. \u00a0Meanwhile, I sampled a pumpkin whoopie pie from my sister in law, Kristina. \u00a0I added cream cheese to the filling recipe because what complements pumpkin better than cream cheese? The two merged together in a perfect match.<\/p>\n

I’m not going to beat around the bush. \u00a0Whoopie pies take a little<\/del> lot of time. \u00a0You bake cookies forever and<\/em> make frosting and<\/em> then you slap them together and<\/strong> only end up with half as many cookies as you baked. \u00a0How is that supposed to be fair? \u00a0But I promise you, this is worth it. \u00a0Go ahead and sample them, but make sure you wrap most of those happy little orbs in plastic wrap and freeze them because they are even more perfect when they’re half-thawed. \u00a0And really, who can complain about dessert ready to go at a moment’s notice? \u00a0Not me. \u00a0Especially when there is a carry-in at church every. single. week. \u00a0Just don’t count calories.<\/p>\n

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies<\/p>\n

Cream together:<\/p>\n

2 cups<\/em> vegetable oil<\/p>\n

2 cups<\/em> brown sugar<\/p>\n

2 cups<\/em> white sugar<\/p>\n

Beat in:<\/p>\n

3 cups<\/em> pumpkin<\/p>\n

4 teaspoons<\/em> vanilla<\/p>\n

4 eggs<\/p>\n

Mix in:<\/p>\n

5 cups<\/em> flour<\/p>\n

1 tablespoon<\/em> cinnamon<\/p>\n

1 teaspoon<\/em> ginger<\/p>\n

1 teaspoon<\/em> nutmeg<\/p>\n

2 teaspoons<\/em> cloves<\/p>\n

2 teaspoons<\/em> baking powder<\/p>\n

2 teaspoons<\/em> baking soda<\/p>\n

2 teaspoons<\/em> salt<\/p>\n

You want a bigger cookie than most of the cookie scoops used for things like chocolate chip cookies, so I used my Pampered Chef ice cream scoop and it was the perfect size. \u00a0Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. \u00a0And here is what I love about this recipe. The dough is just perfect … not so much flour that they get dry. \u00a0They are soft and perfect. \u00a0But just enough flour that they don’t run all over the pan into oddly shaped cookies. \u00a0They just stay there, round themselves perfectly in the center, and bake beautifully.<\/p>\n

For the filling:<\/p>\n

3\/4 cup<\/em> butter, softened<\/p>\n

2 cups<\/em> powdered sugar<\/p>\n

2 (7 oz) jars marshmallow creme<\/p>\n

1 teaspoon<\/em> vanilla<\/p>\n

1 (8 0z) bar cream cheese<\/p>\n

If you like plenty of frosting in a whoopie pie, you should make a batch and a half. \u00a0Or at least add another half a bar of cream cheese. \u00a0Otherwise you’ll end up with a few unfrosted cookies like I did. \u00a0Spread filling on one cookie to your taste and find a mate that matches in size. \u00a0Press them together and voila! \u00a0You’ve just created a whoopie pie. \u00a0Go ahead. You know you want one.<\/p>\n

\"Pumpkin<\/a><\/p>\n

Fall is also when Muesli gives way to Steel Cut Oats.<\/p>\n

\"Oct<\/a><\/p>\n

Credit for this lovely little gem goes to Thelma Musser<\/a>. \u00a0When she posts recipes, I make them. \u00a0They are just that good. \u00a0This one and her Butternut Squash Soup are our family’s favorites.<\/p>\n

I love Steel Cut Oats because they aren’t mushy like regular oatmeal. \u00a0They’re just slightly nutty in taste and texture, but oh, so warm and comforting and unlike the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, nourishing. \u00a0When people say healthy food doesn’t taste as good, I just smile because I know they haven’t tried the right foods. \u00a0This oatmeal is perfection in a bowl. I love steel cut oats even more because I can find them in a gluten free version which means I can make one breakfast for our entire family and everyone<\/em> loves it. \u00a0Let me tell you, this is huge!<\/p>\n

\"Steel<\/a><\/p>\n

Steel Cut Oats<\/p>\n

3 cups water<\/p>\n

1 cup whole milk<\/p>\n

1 tablespoon butter<\/p>\n

1 cup steel cut oats<\/p>\n

1\/4 teaspoon salt<\/p>\n

Bring water and milk to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. \u00a0Meanwhile, heat the butter in a skillet until just beginning to foam. \u00a0Add the oats and toast, stirring constantly until golden and fragrant, about 1.5 – 2 minutes.<\/p>\n

Stir the toasted oats into the simmering liquid, and reduce heat to medium-low. \u00a0Simmer gently until the mixture thickens and the oats absorb all the liquid, about 20-25 minutes. \u00a0Add the salt.<\/p>\n

When serving, toss in a handful of frozen blueberries and drizzle with real maple syrup. \u00a0Side benefit of the blueberries (besides the punch of flavor): it will cool the oatmeal to the perfect temperature for kids to enjoy.<\/p>\n

\"Oct<\/a><\/p>\n

The other morning we had steel cut oats, pumpkin-apple muffins, and pumpkin lattes for breakfast. \u00a0I’m just telling you, it’s hard to hate mornings when you’re facing all of that.<\/p>\n

So go ahead. \u00a0Your stomach will thank you. \u00a0I bet your family will, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I really, really used to dislike fall. \u00a0I’m beginning to wonder how much of my love affair with fall is actually about the season and how much of it is… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,2,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gluten-free","category-life","category-recipes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39ynQ-k7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1254,"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions\/1254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michellebeachy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}