pumpkin whoopie pies

When we visited the family in PA last month, Janelle made a dessert that I had never heard of before. They call these "whoopie pies" and these can be made several ways, but Janelle made hers with pumpkin. Now if you like pumpkin bread, then you will love pumpkin whoopie pies which are little, portable snack cakes. I searched and found the recipe at the Post-Gazzette.com called Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese filling. Not sure if this is the exact recipe, because the filling in her pies tasted more like sugar than cream cheese. I also found another blogger who happens to live in PA and you can read their blog titled Whoopie!! at pennhens.blogspot.com. Also, you can read more about whoopie pies at this article in wikipedia.com (the free online encyclopedia)

Here is the recipe from Janelle:

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

2 egg yolks
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups cooked pumpkin
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
Beat egg yolks, brown sugar, and oil until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients and bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Cool and fill with filling.

Filling
2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. milk
2 egg whites unbeaten
4 Tbsp. flour
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 1/2 Cups shortening
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Spread between cookies.