Earlier this year, Alyssa and I visited Argentina and ate about a bucket of dulce de leche. This feat was aided by the fact that literally every meal came with a dulce de leche option. Want an empanada filled with dulce de leche? SOLD! Eight kinds of dulce de leche ice cream? STEP RIGHT UP! Just a little spoon piled high with dulce de leche for breakfast? SURE THING. We even made a taxi driver in Uruguay drop us off at a McDonald’s so we could eat one of their regional specialties: a dulce de leche sundae.
That’s why when OXO reached out about their partnership with Dorie Greenspan and her upcoming book Dorie’s Cookies, I made the obvious choice: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Dulce De Leche Filling.
To help me create the recipe, OXO was kind enough to send over some brilliant baking tools and I’m not lying when I say they were MAGNIFICENT. One of my very favorite things about OXO is how they innovate to solve real problems in the kitchen. For example, how about their Illuminating Digital Hand Mixer– a sleek hand mixer with a soft LED light (so you can actually see in the bowl) that comes with both beaters AND dough hooks.
Or how about a silicone spatula that’s easy to clean and durable, yet soft enough to be confidently used in my vintage milk glass bowls?
They also sent over a ceramic non-stick muffin pan that was ACTUALLY non-stick. and (perhaps amazingly) the very first cookie scoop I have EVER OWNED. EVER. Which is NONSENSE now that I’ve used OXO’s. It has already taught me so much: that that’s how all the cool kids get uniform cookies that don’t drip everywhere and that it’s easier and more efficient. GET A COOKIE SCOOP.
For this super yummy recipe, I made one small substitution. Since I don’t dig cranberries in my cookies, I swapped them out for 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts. I ALSO used some of my hoarded dulce de leche straight from Argentina, which made these babies both nostalgic AND extra delicious.
Equally brilliant: Dorie’s use of a muffin tin to create her cookies! I overfilled my muffin tin, but it was no problem at all- I just went ahead and cut each cookie in half and slathered the centers with the filling to create the whoopie pie.
Check out Dorie’s recipe right here:
- 13⁄4 cups (238 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons; 4 ounces; 113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
- 3⁄4 cup (150 grams) sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 11⁄2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1⁄2 cup (113 grams) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk, preferably at room temperature
- 3⁄4 cup (about 75 grams) fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped (if frozen, don’t thaw)
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons; 4 ounces; 113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
- 1 cup (96 grams) marshmallow crème (or Marshmallow Fluff)
- 1⁄4 cup (30 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 1⁄4 cup (75 grams) dulce de leche, homemade or store-bought
- Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 375 degrees F. Butter or spray two standard muffin tins (do this even if the tins are nonstick).
- To make the cookies: Whisk the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, baking powder and baking soda together.
- Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and salt together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until creamy. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the pumpkin puree and beat until it’s fully incorporated; don’t be discouraged when the mixture curdles — it will soon smooth out.
- Turn off the mixer, scrape down the bowl and add half of the dry ingredients. Pulse to begin the mixing and then mix on low, scraping the bowl as needed, until the flour mixture is blended in. Beat in the buttermilk. Turn off the mixer, add the remaining dry ingredients, pulse and then mix on low until you have a lovely smooth batter. Switch to a flexible spatula and fold in the cranberries. Don’t be too thorough — it’s better to have an uneven mix than to break the berries and turn the batter red.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out level portions of dough, or use a tablespoon to get rounded spoonfuls, and fill the muffin tins. The scoops of dough will sit upright in the center of the tins, but when baked they’ll melt evenly into the cups.
- Bake the whoopie pies for 11 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back after 6 minutes, or until they are puffed, golden brown and springy to the touch.
- Transfer the pan to a rack and let the cookies rest for 5 minutes, then turn them out on the racks and allow them to cool completely.
- To make the filling: Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, marshmallow crème, sugar and salt together on medium-high speed, scraping the bowl and beater(s) as needed, for about 3 minutes, until very smooth. Lower the mixer speed, add the dulce de leche and beat until thoroughly blended.
- Using a spoon or a small cookie scoop, place the filling on the flat sides of half of the cookies; sandwich with the other cookies, flat sides down. The cookies can be eaten now, but the filling benefits from a 30-minute stay in the refrigerator. Just don’t eat them from the fridge — you’ll deprive yourself of the cookies’ wonderful texture.
- Whopper-Size Whoopie Pies. If you use a large cookie scoop (one with a capacity of 3 tablespoons) to portion out the dough, you can make 6 really big pies (12 cookies; 6 pies). These bake best when you use an insulated baking sheet or stack two sheets one on top of the other. Line the (top) sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and bake the cookies for 15 to 17 minutes.
- The unfilled cookies can be kept covered at room temperature for up to 1 day. Once filled, they can be kept covered in the refrigerator for a day or two, but they’re really best the day they’re made.
While this post is not sponsored, OXO was kind enough to send over the baking supplies I mentioned above to assist me in creating this recipe. My participation in this campaign will also create a donation to Cookies for Kid’s Cancer. Thank you, OXO!
Everything – these whoopie pies, THAT BOWL (winkwink), theses photos – it’s all downright gorgeous. I love the muffin tin method – so easy! Also cookie scoops FTW!!
What a great combo! Those look delicious!
Found you via Twitter, and so glad I did! These pumpkin whoopies pies are fun to say and I bet gorgeous to eat! I’m totally digging your blog, ladies! –Ginger