Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I made these cute Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies because I had a leftover Vanilla Cream Cheese Buttercream that I wanted to put to good use. The leftover buttercream was from the anniversary cake I recently made and I had at least four cups that I just had to save and use, especially with butter being so expensive these days.

The batter for the Whoopie Pies comes together easily by hand and contains olive oil and good doses of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. I also added cinnamon to the Vanilla Cream Cheese Buttercream to change it up a bit and compliment the pumpkin cakes.

Because I had a lot of buttercream to use up, my recipe makes four dozen mini pies but it can be halved for a smaller batch.

If you don't have leftover filling and don't want to go to the trouble of making a fresh batch of buttecream, plain cream cheese with a bit of butter, sweetened to taste with powdered sugar and flavored with vanilla and cinnamon works just fine too. Experimenting and getting creative is for me what's most fun about baking.

Filling the Whoopie Pies

Here are the recipes:

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
(makes enough cakes for four dozen filled pies) 

2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
1 cup olive oil
2 eggs
2 (15oz) cans pumpkin
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nugmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Line four sheetpans with parchment and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the sugar, olive oil, eggs, pumpkin and vanilla.

Wet ingredients.

In another large bowl whisk together the remaining dry ingredients.

Dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Use a 1-inch scoop to drop mounds of batter onto the baking sheets, spacing them 2-inches apart.

The dough before baking.

Bake the cakes for 10 to 13 minutes or until done and springy to the touch. Let the baked cakes cool for a bit on the baking sheets before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Sort the cakes into pairs and fill with the cinnamon flavored filling of your choice.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Buttercream
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the milk and half of the sugar until simmering.

In the meantime, in a small bowl combine the cream, the other half of the sugar and cornstarch. Mix well with a whisk.

When the milk is simmering,  pour about half of it into the cream mixture and whisk well. Add it back to the milk in the saucepan and heat, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes very thick.

Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla. Put the mixture into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the mixture cool completely.

When the buttercream base is cool, transfer it to a mixer and whip until smooth, add the butter and the cream cheese, a tablespoon at a time and whip until light and fluffy. Finally, add the cinnamon and whip again.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar

12 oz. (1 1/2 pkg.) cream cheese 

1/4 cup softened butter

2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

Whip cream cheese and butter thoroughly. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and then the sugar, a little at a time and whip until smooth.