Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

For the pies:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.

In a large bowl, whisk together sifted flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and oil until well combined. Add pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined.

Slowly sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.

Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Make sure you leave room. They do expand and when they touch, well, that’s annoying, so give ‘em some room to breathe.

Transfer tray to the oven and bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of each cookie comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on pan.

For the filling:

Sift sugar into a medium bowl; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add your cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth.

The fun part:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag (or Ziplock bag) and snip off the corner.

When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies (flat side in), pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies.

Transfer to prepared baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate pies for at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.