If you love pumpkin, you'll be in pumpkin heaven with these cookies. The cookie itself taste cake-like and the filling is to die! The recipe for the cookies I got from the Land O Lakes website. And as previously mentioned they are cake-like meaning they are spongy and delicious! The cookies are incredibly tasty on their own and could stand on their own without the filling, if you're looking to cut down on the calories but why would you want to do that? It's the HOLIDAYS for crying outloud! So indulge.
The filling the Land O Lakes recipe calls for sounds absolutely amazing, well anything with cream cheese is absolutely amazing, but that's neither here nor there. I didn't use the filling in the recipe because I was shipping the cookies to another state and some people would frown on the mere suggestion of shipping unrefrigerated cream cheese across state lines. So instead I used a Pumpkin Buttercream filling I found at Ashlees Cooking Blog. And believe me when I say it's Thanksgiving decadence at it's best! These are a must try and disregard my crappy picture. I was going to take another picture today but there was only one cookie left -yep, they're that good!
The cooking time for the cookies is kinda tricky -I blame my oven- but incase it's not my oven I'm warning you they may have to be in the oven for almost twice as long as the recipe states. That is about the only draw back. The filling is enough to do all the cookies plus you'll have some leftover. I rolled the leftover filling in plastic wrap & popped it back in the fridge to solidify. I thought it would make a great compound butter to be served at Thanksgiving with rolls. Anyway, on with the recipe.
Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies with Pumpkin Buttercream Filling
Recipes Courtesy of Land O' Lakes & Ashlee's Cooking Blog
Cookie Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
*If you don't have pumpkin spice substitute 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Filling Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Combine flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
Combine brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add pumpkin, milk, egg and vanilla; beat until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture. Beat until well mixed.
Drop batter by level measuring tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes (I would eyeball it because again they are "cake-like" mine I timed at 32 min.) or until set and lightly browned around edges. Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheets; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.
For the Pumpkin Buttercream: Cream butter and pumpkin with a mixer or in a stand mixer. Turn to low, add in cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla. Slowly add sugar 1/2 c. at a time until the buttercream is creamy.
**Note: The pumpkin will make it look grainy if there isn't enough sugar mixed in. (this didn't happen to me but if it does this is why another thing she mentions is seperating due to the pumpkin puree this also didn't happen to me.)
Spread 1 teaspoon or less of filling onto bottom-side of 1 cookie. Top with another cookie, bottom-side down. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Sprinkle filled cookies with powdered sugar.
Lake O' Lakes Recipe Tip:
For perfectly round cookies, pipe batter in 1-inch circle on parchment-lined cookie sheets, using piping bag without a tip
