Eleni’s cookies are favorites amongst celebrities and luxury brands throwing extravagant bashes, but this Thanksgiving, it’s founder Eleni Gianopulos’ whoopie pie recipe that has us gathering ingredients to complete the dessert table.
“When hosting Thanksgiving, I always start with dessert! It drives my husband crazy but I can’t help it, I always start backwards,” says Eleni, unsurprisingly. “I typically prepare a larger dessert buffet than dinner. Of course, I serve pumpkin pie and pecan pie. My mom insists it is not Thanksgiving without these staples!”
She’s also given us some great tips, below, to make these delicious, fall-themed whoopie pies even more festive and fun.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
2 cups (4 sticks) room temperature butter
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons ginger
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prep cookie sheets with grease, or line with parchment paper.
Add soft butter into mixer bowl with paddle attachment on 2nd speed until smooth (about 2 minutes).
Add sugars and mix on 2nd speed to combine. Mix on 3rd speed until smooth and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Scrape down sides of bowl.
Add eggs to bowl on 1st speed to combine. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add pumpkin puree on 1st speed and mix to combine. Scrape down sides of bowl.
Combine dry ingredients together in a separate mixing bowl. Whisk together. Add to your mixture and combine on 1st speed. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix until smooth (about 1 minute).
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups room temperature butter
4 cups room temperature cream cheese
8-9 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
Mix cream cheese with paddle attachment until there are no lumps. Add room temperature butter and mix until smooth.
Scrape down bowl and add vanilla extract. Mix for 1 minute.
Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until desired consistency. If icing seems too loose, add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time. If icing seems too thick add 1 tbsp of milk.
To assemble: Take one whoopie pie and drop 1 TB cream cheese frosting in the middle. Sandwich between another whoopie pie. Keep refrigerated.
Fun Tips:
To make your pumpkin whoopie pie more festive for Thanksgiving, you can add orange/red/yellow colored sprinkles to the sides of the frosting.
If you are really competing for best dessert, you can cut your whoopie pies in half and stand them up on a tray (flat edge facing down, so they can stand up straight). Place a hand-iced turkey cookie into the frosting for a special touch, which might even beat out grandma’s apple pie!a