Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

 This recipe is brought to by Hannaford... So Wayne's mom had this recipe kicking around and we have made it for a few years in a row now. SO GOOD! We usually make them mini-whoopies because 1. they are super cute 2. it cuts the 495834095834 calories per whoopie in half (unless you eat 4 or maybe 10 like me, which defeats the purpose) 3. SO CUTE!

Depending on how big you make them, this recipe will make 20-40 whoopie pies. :) And they are highly addictive, kinda like pumpkin crack, so beware. 

Pumpkin cakes:
1.5 c. light brown sugar
3/4 c. canola oil
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon (we usually use a lot more than this...)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg

( waynes obviously crazy amount of filling...... it will just explode everywhere if you do this... lol ) 

Cream Cheese Filling:
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, room temp.
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 1/2 c. confectioners sugar, sifted

 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray, or line with parchment
2. Lg mixing bowl---> mix brown sugar, oil, & vanilla with electric mixer until well blended, then add eggs one at a time, then add pumpkin.
3. 2nd Lg mixing bowl---> Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove, ginger, and nutmeg. 
4. Add 1/2 dry mix to wet mix, blend until smooth, then add remaining dry mix, and blend
5. Drop 2 tbsp of batter onto cooking sheets, leaving 2in between each
6. Bake 11-13 min until "puffed" and set, but still soft to touch. Let cakes cool for few minutes before taking them off cooking sheets, then let cool 20 min
7. Prepare filling while cakes cool----> Lg mixing bowl, mix cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until creamy. Add vanilla and 1/2 confectioners sugar,  blend until smooth. Add remaining confectioners sugar. 
8. Put your whoopies together! :)

***Store at room temp x2 days or freeze for up to 2 months
(I'm pretty sure they will last more than 2 days......... BUT I thought I'd share what they recommend :P)