Gingerbread Whoopie Pies

One of the best flavors this time of year is gingerbread! The warm, cozy spices and the robust hints of molasses make it such a classic. So today, we're making gingerbread cookies. But not just any gingerbread cookies.... gingerbread whoopie pies. These gingerbread whoopie pies are the perfect festive treat! They are super soft gingerbread sandwich cookies, filled with a delicious marshmallow cream cheese frosting.

INGREDIENTS FOR GINGERBREAD WHOOPIE PIES

Okay, so let's go over what ingredients are needed for these whoopie pies. You'll need mostly normal, common cookie ingredients, as well as a few extras for that gingerbread flavor. Here's your shopping list:

• All-purpose flour

• Baking soda

• Salt

• Spices

• Unsalted butter

• Molasses

• Granulated sugar

• Vanilla extract

• Milk

MAKING THE WHOOPIE PIES

To begin, preheat your oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set those aside. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Set it aside for now.

Using a hand or stand mixer, cream together the softened butter, molasses, and granulated sugar. Mix for 30 seconds to a minute or so until combined a fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add in the dry ingredients to the bowl. While mixing them in on a low speed, slowly pour in the milk. Once all the milk has been added, continue mixing just until everything is combined and the dough is formed. *This dough is wetter than typical cookie dough, and might appear more like batter. That is what you want!

Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop out the dough. Drop scoops of dough about 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. You want to make sure there is plenty of room for them, since they will spread while baking. One all the cookies have been scooped, bake them for 11-13 minutes. Once done, the cookie should have spread and puffed up. They should be firm enough to hold their shape, but be slightly soft to the touch. Allow them to cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

INGREDIENTS FOR MARSHMALLOW CREAM CHEESE FILLING

This marshmallow cream cheese filling is super simple to throw together, and you only need six ingredients for it! Here's everything you'll need:

• Unsalted butter

• Cream cheese

• Powdered sugar

• Vanilla extract

• Marshmallow fluff

• Salt

MAKING THE FILLING

To make this luscious filling, start by creaming together the softened butter and softened cream cheese until smooth. Then, add in the vanilla extract, marshmallow fluff, and salt. Once combined, add in the powdered sugar. Start by adding 1 ½ cups. If you want your filling to be a little thicker/firmer, add in ¼ cup of powdered sugar at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Last, turn your mixer up to a medium speed and let it whip for about a minute. I like doing this because it make the frosting light and fluffy. *If your filling is a bit too warm or loose, you can pop it into the fridge for 20-30 minutes. This will help it firm up.

Once the cookies are cooled, pipe or spoon equal amounts of the filling onto the underside of half of the cookies. Top each one with a second cookie, creating a sandwich!

TIPS FOR THE BEST GINGERBREAD WHOOPIE PIES

♦ Use a cookie scoop. The best and easiest way to make sure all of your whoopie pies are the same size is to use a cookie scoop to portion them out! I used a large cookie scoop and placed the scoops about 3 inches apart from one another.

♦ Spice them up! Nothing is worse than biting into a gingerbread cookie and it's bland! It may seem like a lot of spice for these cookies, but trust me, it's just right. For gingerbread, you want a lot of those strong, warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and of course, ginger. Clove can be a strong flavor, so the recipe calls for up to ½ teaspoon of clove, depending on how you care for the flavor of clove.

♦ Let the cookies cool completely. Have you ever filled a sandwich cookie while still warm? If not, I do not recommend doing so! You want to make sure your gingerbread cookies are completely cooled before filling them to stop the filling from melting.

♦ You can make them mini! This recipe calls for a medium cookie scoop, resulting in 7-8 larger whoopie pies. If you are looking to make small whoopie pies, you can! You can use a small cookie scoop to scoop out the cookie dough instead, and fill each pair of cookies equally. It should yield around 14-16 small whoopie pies.

These gingerbread cookies are sure to put some spice into your holiday season! Happy baking! ♥