Chocolate Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I love anything pumpkin when it comes to Fall, and love my chocolate desserts so I thought why not combine the 2! This was my first try at making whoopie pies {I never have even tried one before making these} and I must say that they turned out pretty well!
These little whoopie pies would be great for a holiday party, or any potluck! They are much easier to transport than cupcakes, since the buttercream is sandwiched between the 2 sides of cake.

The cake is sturdy enough using only one egg to stand on its own as a whoopie pie base, but wasn’t crumbly or overly springy.

What you will need:
Cake:
2 cups Flour
½ cup Cocoa Powder
1 ¼ tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup Buttermilk (or 1 scant cup of milk + 1 Tbs. white vinegar)
1 tsp. Vanilla
½ cup Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg

Filling:
4 oz. cream cheese
¼ cup Butter
¼ cup Pumpkin Puree 
½ cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
½ tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
Pinch of Salt



Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and mix until just combined.

At low speed, alternate adding buttermilk and the flour and cocoa, starting and ending with the buttermilk. Add the baking soda, salt, and vanilla and mix until combined.
Scoop small batter mounds on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper with at least an inch of space in between pies as they will expand. If you use a heaping teaspoon of batter, you will get mini whoopie pies and will make about 24 pies. If you use a heaping tablespoon of batter, you will get normal sized whoopie pies and will make about 16 pies. I made 24 small for my batch. {I dumped my cake batter into a Ziploc bag and cut the tip off, which made it easier to get perfectly round and even-sized pies}


Bake the pies for about 10-12 minutes. Once the cakes come out of the oven, place them on a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Filling: Beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed in a medium bowl until smooth and creamy. Add the pumpkin puree and beat to combine. Add the confectioners' sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt and beat to combine.


Assemble the pies by finding two halves that match in size. Pipe frosting starting in the middle of one cake half and working your way in a spiral to the outside edges. Sandwich another cake on top. Refrigerate to chill before serving.

Enjoy!