Pumpkin Spice Cookie Sandwiches

This last Sunday I co-hosted a baby shower for my friend Tara, the first of my high school friends to get pregnant!  After much discussion, us three co-hostesses decided to forgo the traditional baby-themed showers and go with a fall theme instead.  The fall colors fit perfectly with Tara's nursery scheme and we had the shower on a beautiful fall day, complete with farmers' market flowers and candles.  So elegant.

For the menu, we opted for a dessert buffet in the afternoon.  And just to balance out the food, we had an awesome cheese plate and some pre-made palmiers from Trader Joe's as our savory options.  The spread was insane! 

We had cupcakes, a carrot cake, individual pudding cups topped with a mint sprig, and espresso bars.  And my contribution to the party included chocolate peanut butter balls, this time with a teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg added into the peanut butter mixture, and pumpkin spiced pies.  I found this recipe on a Better Homes & Gardens website that my mom sent me with 100 recipes for pumpkin.  Ummm, delish.  These little whoopie pies were perfectly sweet but not too intense and had a delightful spice that was perfect for fall.  I doubled the recipe to make enough for the baby shower, and you can shape the cookies as large or small as you want to suit your needs. 

Pumpkin Spice Cookie Sandwiches

From Better Homes & Gardens

makes about 16 medium-sized pies

Ingredients

For Cookies:

1 can cooked pumpkin

1 box spiced cake mix (love those shortcuts)
1/3 cup softened butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

For spiced filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3.5 oz marshmallow fluff

1/3 cup softened butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  In a large mixing bowl, beat pumpkin and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add cake mix, eggs, and milk; beat on low speed until combined, and then on medium speed for 1 minute.

Drop mounds of batter 3 inches apart on cookie sheet; keep remaining batter chilled. Bake 15 minutes or until set and lightly browned around edges. Carefully remove from parchment or foil; cool on wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter, lining cooled cookie sheets each time with new parchment or foil. If desired, place cookies in a covered storage container with waxed paper between layers to prevent sticking.  Keep cookies in the refrigerator  until ready to serve.  (They get tacky if you keep them at room temp as per the original recipe -- they were easier to handle and eat if chilled.)

Up to 2 hours before serving, beat together all ingredients for marshmallow filling.  Put the filling into a large ziplock bag.  Clip the corner of the bag, and squeeze out a layer of marshmallow cream on one cookie.  Top with a second cookie to make a sandwich.  Repeat until finished making cookie sandwiches.  Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 2 hours.