Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies

Name: Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 16-30 sandwich cookies
Ingredients: 2 cups flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated); 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 cup brown sugar, packed; 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick); 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (100-percent pure); 1/4 cup whole milk; 1 large egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 -4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted plus more for optional dusting

Submitted by Busters friend

"Ah, pumpkin! Little sandwich cookies full of delicious, healthy spicy pumpkin & smooth & creamy cream cheese filling. Wonderful with a mug of hot cider (or even Recipe#235381 if you are staying home by the fire). Found in The Washington Post who adapted it from a Land O' Lakes recipe (mmmm butter). The cookie sandwiches be made assembled, covered and refrigerated for 3 days. Unfilled cookies can be cooled completely, individually wrapped with plastic wrap and frozen for a month. Defrost, still wrapped, for 30 minutes at room temperature before filling. The filling can be assembled and refrigerated up to to 4 days in advance. Allow it to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before using. Makes 2 1/2 dozen bite-size sandwich cookies or about sixteen 2-inch sandwich cookies."

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Ready In:: 55mins
Ingredients:: 16
Yields:: 16-30 sandwich cookies

ingredients

For the cookies
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated)
¹⁄₂ teaspoon baking powder
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar, packed
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick)
¹⁄₂ cup canned pumpkin (100-percent pure)
¹⁄₄ cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 -4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted plus more for optional dusting

directions

For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have ready 2 ungreased baking sheets.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice blend, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Combine the brown sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer; beat at medium speed for 3 minutes, until creamy. Stop to add the pumpkin puree, milk, egg and vanilla extract; beat on medium-low spead for 2 minutes, until all ingredients are incorporated. Reduce the speed to low; gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just combined.
Drop level tablespoonfuls of dough onto each baking sheet, spaced about 1 inch apart (the cookies do not spread much). Bake one sheet at a time, for 9 to 12 minutes or until set; they should spring back when lightly pressed. Cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet; then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat to use all the dough, making a total of 60 cookies.
To make 2-inch cookies, drop 2-tablespoon amounts of dough on the sheets. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, until set and springy to the touch. Cool as directed above; repeat to use all the dough, making a total of 32 cookies.
For the filling: Combine the cream cheese, butter, cinnamon and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat at medium speed 3 minutes until smooth, stopping often to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add 2 cups of the confectioners' sugar, or up to 4 cups as needed, beating well after each addition until the mixture is creamy. (More sugar means a stiffer filling.).
Turn half the cookies flat-sides up. Spread each one with 2 teaspoons of the filling, then top with the remaining cookies. If desired, dust the tops of the cookies with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Busters friend

Pleasure Island, 73

First about Buster: Buster moved onto whatever comes next on February 26, 2008. He was just shy of five years old. I miss him terribly. He came into our lives when he ran out in front of my car late one night as I was driving home. A just under 4 pound ball of kitten fluff, complete with an ostrich boa tail that stayed straight up as he assessed his new domain. He became a 19 pound longhaired beast who guarded our house (he followed any new guests or servicepeople the entire time they are on the property) & even killed copperheads (among other things with his hunting buddy, Fergus the short-tailed)! Friends never saw his formidible side as he smiled at them & uttered the most incongruent kitten-like mews as he threaded legs! He liked to ride in the car & came to the beach. There are Buster-approved recipes in my offerings - however, HE decided which he wanted to consider - Buster demonstrated he liked pumpkin anything - ALOT -LOL!!! Copperhead count 2006 - Buster 2 (10 inchers w/yellow tails) 2007 - Buster & Roxie 1 (a 24 incher!) Buster woken from beauty sleep - http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0335.JPG Big whiskers - http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0333.JPG For those of you who gave kind condolences - thank you so very much. http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=250301 I love to cook & incorporate techniques from Southern/Mid Atlantic roots (grits, eastern NC BBQ shoulders, Brunswick stew, steamed crabs & shrimp & shellfish, hushpuppies, cornbread, greens, shad roe, scrapple) with Pacific Rim foods & techniques aquired while living in Pacific Northwest, fish & game recipes learned while living in Rocky Mountain region & foods/techniques learned travelling to the Big Island & up into BC & Alberta & into the Caribbean. The Middle Eastern/African likes I have are remnants of my parents who lived for many years in North Africa & Mediterranean before I was thought of. Makes for wide open cooking! Since moving back east we try to go annually in the deep winter to Montreal (Old Montreal auberges & La Reine) & Quebec City (Winter Carnival & Chateau Frontenac)- for unctuous foie gras & real cheeses, French & Canadian meals prepared & served exquisitely, fantastic music & wonderful people - with the cold helping burn off some of the calories! I love putting in our aluminum jonboat & heading across the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to the barrier islands for foraging & exploring! Bodysurfing is a lifelong sport for me - one that a person's body never seems to forget how to do, once the knack is learned (thank goodness!) I especially miss cool summers & foggy/drizzly days & fall mushroom foraging/anytime of year hot springing in WA, OR, MT, ID, BC & Alberta.

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