Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Monica suggested Pumpkin Whoopie Pies for a Thanksgiving desert this year, and they were a big hit.  I combined a few recipes I found online because I really wanted the cream cheese in the filling.

Pumpkin Cookies:
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp ground ginger
1/2 Tbsp ground cloves

Cream Cheese Filling:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
6 Tbsp softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
First you need to make the cookies.  Combine the oil and brown sugar, then mix in the pumpkin and eggs.  Add the remainig dry ingredients and mix well.  The consistency will be somewhere between a cake mix and what you would expect for cookies.  Drop by heaping teaspoons onto a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.  Let the cookies cool.

Next make the filling.  Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy.  Mix in the powdered sugar until will blended.

When the cookies are cool, spoon the filling onto the flat half of a cookie, and top with the flat side of another cookie.  Store in a refrigerator.  Note: I made the mistake of stacking my cookies on top of each other, and since they are moist, they did stick a little.  But they still tasted delicious!