• FOR THE PUMPKIN WHOOPIE COOKIES
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• FOR THE CREAM-CHEESE FILLING
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make the cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together 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. Sprinkle flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated.
3. Using a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to 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.
4. Make the filling: Sift confectioner’ sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth. Add cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, beat just until smooth. (Filling can be made up to a day in advance. Cover and refrigerate; let stand at room temperature to soften before using.)
5. Assemble the whoopie pies: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Transfer filling to a disposable pastry bag and snip the end. When cookies have cooled completely, pipe a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, 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 cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.

recipe courtesy of Martha. Good ole Martha. I think the fact that she spent time in thr slammer makes her even more endearing to me.

We love these cookies. They are super soft gooey chocolatey goodness cookies. They are easy and quick to make and relatively healthy for you. If you don’t have any flaxseed or don’t want to use it, leave it out. They will still taste delicious. And since they do not contain raw eggs, I have no problem letting the girls go to town with licking the beaters.

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup canola oil (I’ve used shortening)

1 1/2 cup sugar

4 tsp ground flaxseed

1/2 cup soymilk

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup (more or less) chocolate chips

In large bowl sift together the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt. In a seperate large bowl mix together the oil and sugar. Add the flaxseed, soymilk, and vanilla and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest in fridge for at least 1/2 an hour. Preheat oven to 350 five minutes before taking dough out of the fridge. I use an ice cream scoop to shape cookies onto the cookie sheet. Then BEFORE I put the cookies in the oven, I set the timer for 8 minutes. If I do not set the timer, the cookies WILL burn. After removing from oven, let rest for a few minutes before putting them on a cooling rack. Then ENJOY. (maybe with a tall glass of vanilla soymilk. . . mmmmm)

2 things Jared taught me about baking cookies even though I thought I knew it all:

1. Putting the cookie dough in the fridge makes for nice rounded cookies. Warm dough leads to runny, flat cookies.

2. Overmixing leads to runny cookies.

Rory takes cooking and baking VERY seriously.

This is what Ella was doing while baking. (drawing) She does not take cooking and baking very seriously and gets easily bored with it.

Hudson enjoys the results of cooking and baking and takes them very seriously.