Name: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1½ hours
Yield: Makes 16 sandwich cookies
Ingredients: 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour; 1 tsp. ground cinnamon; ½ tsp. baking powder; ½ tsp. baking soda; ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt; ½ tsp. ground ginger; ¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg; ¼ tsp. ground cloves; 1 large egg; 1 15-oz. can pumpkin purée; 1 cup (packed; 200 g) light brown sugar; ½ cup vegetable oil; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; 2 Tbsp. (packed) light brown sugar; Pinch of kosher salt; ½ cup raw pecans; 6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature; 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature; Pinch of salt; 1½ cups (165 g) powdered sugar; 1 Tbsp. bourbon or 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pumpkin whoopie pies with candied pecans in the filling.

Photo by Elizabeth Coetzee, Food Styling by Mira Evnine

Pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread are rightfully iconic, but sometimes you crave that telltale pumpkin flavor in a different fall-ready form. [This pumpkin whoopie pie recipe has entered the chat.] The batter gets a waft of flavor from the usual array of pumpkin pie spices (ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves) combined with canned pumpkin purée—not pumpkin pie filling–to create a cookie with a moist, cake-like crumb. Now’s the time to use a cookie scoop if you have one; for a clean look the cookies must be uniform. If you don’t have a scoop, be sure to match up the cookies by size and shape before you start sandwiching them.

We’ve paired the pumpkin cookies with a fluffy cream cheese filling, but you can swap in maple buttercream or any frosting you like. Whatever you choose, you must let the cookies cool before you start assembly—otherwise the filling could melt and cause a mess. For crunch you’ll roll the edges of the assembled whoopie pies in candied nuts, calling to mind the flavors of another autumnal icon, pecan pie.

Not a pumpkin person? Try chocolate whoopie pies with whipped marshmallow filling.