Guest Post: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

My friend, Kristin from Meringue Bake Shop wanted to share a recipe with my readers. She thought it would be fun and easy since Halloween is coming up this weekend. It's something that you can do with your kiddos Saturday morning, or you can take these to a Halloween Party, Saturday night!

"Halloween is my second favorite holiday (Christmas holds the #1 spot). It jump-starts the holiday season, gives us our first feelings of fall and there is pumpkin everywhere! I love baking with squash, pumpkin, zucchini, and butternut. Mmmm... Those flavors always feel right this time of the year."

As you may, or may not know I bake cupcakes. Lots of cupcakes. So when I have a chance to bake for coworkers, friends, family, or myself, I like to try different things. So I search the web, check out some of my favorite foodie blogs, and collect ideas and recipes to try. I noticed some buzz around Whoopie Pies so I thought I’d give them a try again. According to Wikipedia, Whoopie Pies got their start in the Amish community and their name came about when the husbands would shout “Whoopie!” when they received one of these treats in their lunch boxes. I had made some Banana Whoopie Pies during the Spring this year but since it’s fall and I’m craving pumpkin and spices, I decided to bake some Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.

These are really fun to make, very easy and kid-friendly. And might I say, VERY tasty! Only a few ingredients are needed. And the bake time is short. Perfect for when you have only a little time available or have little helpers with short attention spans.

I tried a few recipes and this one is my favorite with a few modifications. I found this recipe on Bakespace. Bakespace is a recipe exchange and social network site for people who love food, cooking and baking.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
(Adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Pinch of black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper together in a medium bowl.

Using electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, molasses and vanilla in large bowl to blend.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add pumpkin puree. Mixture will look curdled but that’s ok. Mix in dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk, beating until just combined.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart, leaving enough room for dough to spread. I use a cookie scoop that holds 1 tbsp. It’s a lot less messy to use when having kitchen help from small hands.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center. Cool completely on wire racks before filling.

Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Filling:
3 cups powdered sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 TBSP maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-1 tsp of maple extract (opt, to taste)

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth with no visible lumps. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined and fluffy.
Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and maple extract (if using) and beat until smooth.

To assemble:
Take a cooled cookie and using a butter knife, spread a thick amount of filling to the flat side. Grab another cookie and with flat side sandwich together. Press ever so slightly to get some of the filling to pop out the sides. You should be able to see the filling when looking down at the pie. If you want to get fancy, you can also put the filling into a plastic zipper bag, cut a 1/2” hole in one corner and pipe a big glob onto the flat side of the cookie.

Once all the pies are assembled, take a plate and pour out some Halloween sprinkles, sugars, non-pareils, quins, etc. Holding the pie vertically, roll the edges on the plate picking up the sprinkles along the way. Viola!

Yum!

If you don’t like pumpkin or are allergic, you can make the original version. I used this recipe. To make them more "Halloweenie", add some orange food coloring to the filling.

Have fun and Happy Halloween!

Angry Julie on a Budget-Guest Poster ForTheMommas aka Shannon

I started my own little weekly topic last week, "Angry Julie on a Budget". I'm going to try and offer tips, guest posters, what I've learned, and some resources to my readers. This is my second post in this series.



So, Julie wants to be on a budget. I won't lie and say it will be easy, it is going to suck at first. She will resent the fact that she can't buy anything she wants. She may hate it. However, she will come to love her budget. I promise, I can see it now Budget Julie Everyday. I like it. You wanna join Angry Julie on her quest to be on a budget? Great, I think I can help.

I too used to be like Angry Julie. However, I am a reformed shopaholic turned frugalista. I went from buying the high end brands to shopping at Goodwill. (don't turn you nose up. you can get some really great things at Goodwill. Did you know that Target donates everything it doesn't sell to Goodwill!) I request free samples and use coupons (lots and lots of coupons). I stockpile and shop at yard sales, yep I am the crazy coupon lady.

So, maybe you won't be as drastic as me, maybe you just need to save a few dollars per month. Maybe you are piling on credit card debt and need a complete lifestlye change. Regardless of what your budgeting goals are, there are a three great ways to start saving money!

1. Get Real with Yourself - You need to get honest with yourself (umm hmm Julie, you have to count every Monster you buy). You can't know how much you need to save if you don't know what you're spending. You need to have your expenses and income accounted for and I mean ALL. You can check out Mint.com- it is an online program that you can use to manage your budget. It will send you alerts and emails telling you how bad you are and that you went over your budget. Nothing like getting remprimanded by a computer program.

2. Cut out the fat in your budget - I am not talking about the ice cream, I am talking about the things you just spend money on because you can. This doesn't have to be all or nothing. (well unless you can't pay your bills, then it has to be all). Make a list of the items that you can live without.(Julie can live without the Monsters.) Start by cutting out the easiet thing to give up. Try cutting out one new every other week, until you have cut out the excess spending in your budget. Try to find less expensive alternatives if you cannot cut these things out all together.

3. Save Money on the Things you Have to Buy - You can start with using coupons. Make a list of the top 25 things (outside of produce and meat) that you buy. I guarantee you, unless you have a very specialized diet, you will find that atleast 8-10 things that you can find coupons for. Many coupons can now be found online. Visit Hot Coupon World and check out their coupon database. You type in the food item that you are looking to purchase - if a coupon is available, it will show up there. Start by simply using the database for things you are going to buy. Check out this post for information about general couponing. Also, bookmark this page for the best printable coupons

When you get a comfortable with coupons, match coupons to grocery store sales - Visit BeCentsableand find the grocery stores you shop at. This site provides you with a list of blogs that provide coupon matchups. This list includes grocery stores all over the country, so your store is like to be there. Remember, never buy something because you have a coupon for it.

So I know Julie can do it if I did and you can too. For many more money saving tips and ideas, visit my blog at www.forthemommas.com (yes, that was a pathetic, shameless plug)