Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Buckwheat Honey Buttercream Filling

Last week I was trying to think of what I wanted to bake.  I had some pumpkin to use, and was debating on making a bundt cake or something else.  I grabbed my Whoopie Pies cookbook by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell and found just what I wanted to make.  The pumpkin whoopie pie recipe was easy, but then came the hard part... what kind of filling should I use?  I wanted something that would make me think of fall and complement the pumpkin flavor.  I almost made a regular buttercream filling and subbed the vanilla with a pumpkin pie coffee syrup I just bought.  Instead I found the honey buttercream filling and opted for that.

The buckwheat honey isn't a requirement, but I chose it because of it's strong flavor.  I wanted a honey that was rich tasting and that wouldn't be overpowered by the rest of the filling.  Buckwheat honey is a very dark brownish amber color that reminds me a lot of molasses.  I got my honey from a local vendor at the Farmer's Market.  If you can't get this kind of honey, then any type you have on hand will do just fine.

I subbed 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie seasoning for the allspice and nutmeg since the pie seasoning contained both, and I had it on hand.  I also used a roasted ground ginger.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp roasted ground ginger
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin (do not use pre-seasoned!)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift (or whisk) together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin pie seasoning, and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Either using a mixer with a paddle attachment or by hand, beat the brown sugar and butter together in a bowl until just combined.  Add the pumpkin and egg, beating well.  Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix until incorporated.  Be sure to scrape the sides and under the batter mixture to make sure that all the dry ingredients are combined with the wet.
5. Using either a small ice cream scoop or a cookie scoop, drop scoops of batter onto the prepared baking sheets spacing them about 2 inches apart.  Be sure to have an even amount of scoops so each pie half has a "buddy" for filling!
6. Bake one sheet at a time for about 15 minutes each, or until the cakes are firm to the touch.
7. Cool on the sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. 

Yield: I ended up with 30 total halves, enough for 15 whoopies.  This was using a cookie scoop.

Note: You can reuse the parchment paper, so if you have more whoopie pies to scoop than pans to fill, then you can remove the pies from the paper when they are cooled, and then add more dough to the sheets. 

Buckwheat Honey Buttercream Filling

Ingredients:

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar (icing sugar)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp buckwheat honey
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1.  Beat together the confectioners' sugar and the butter until the mixture is crumbly.
2. Add the heavy cream, honey, lemon juice, and salt.  Mix until smooth. 

Now if you're like me, your kitchen will still be pretty stinking warm from cooking the whoopie pies.  If you're also like me, then you're wanting to taste these really bad and will dump all the filling into a pastry bag and start filling whoopie pies as soon as they are cool.  The filling will get oozy!  Still delicious, but an oozy mess.  If you have the patience, then I would recommend covering the filling and putting it in the fridge for about 30 minutes before using it to fill the whoopie pies.  This gives the kitchen a chance to cool off, and will help the filling not get oozy while you're working with it.  Feel free to use a pastry bag or just grab a spoon, knife, or spatula and fill away!