I love brioche!! How can you beat the oh so soft and rich interior of a bread that is made with so much butter? Well, I think spread a bit more butter on a slice and add a touch of fresh raspberry jam! This dough is hard to work with and I recommend making the dough by stand mixer, because you will get unbelievably frustrated if you try to make it by hand. It takes a very long time to knead by machine and you can use either the paddle attachment or the dough hook. I say start with the paddle attachment and if you feel it becomes too hard for the paddle switch to the hook towards the end. This recipe is adapted from Peter Reinhart’s: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice

Sponge Ingredients:

• ½ cup (2.25 ounces) unbleached bread flour
• 2 tsp. (.22 ounces) instant yeast
• ½ cup (4 ounces) whole milk, lukewarm

Final Dough Ingredients:

• 5 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 3 cups (13.75 ounces) unbleached bread flour
• 2 TB (1 ounce) sugar
• 1 ¼ tsp. (.31 ounce) salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces, 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. Add the eggs to the sponge and whisk or beat on medium speed with the paddle attachment until smooth. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add this mixture to the sponge and eggs and stir until all the ingredients are hydrated and evenly distributed. Let this mixture rest for 5 minutes so that the gluten can begin to develop. Then, while mixing with a large spoon, work in a quarter of the butter. Turn the dough out onto a counter and knead the dough by hand or mix with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer. This dough will be particularly sticky but resist the urge to add more flour. When the dough begins to smooth out and become tighter it is time to add another quarter of the butter. Allow the butter to assimilate into the dough before adding more butter. Add in the last quarters of butter one at a time and allow to fully combine after each addition. The finished dough will be very soft and smooth.
2. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and mist lightly with cooking spray. Transfer the dough to the sheet pan, spreading it to form a large, thick rectangle measuring about 6 inches by 8 inches. Mist the top of the dough with cooking spray and cover the pan with plastic wrap. Place the pan immediately into the refrigerator and allow to rest overnight or for at least 4 hours before shaping.
3. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and shape it into mini brioche a` tete or larger loaves. Mist the tops of the dough with cooking spray and loosely cover with plastic wrap.
4. Proof the dough until it nearly fills the molds or loaf pans, 1 ½-2 hours for smaller shapes and longer for larger shapes. Gently brush the tops with egg was. Cover the dough with plastic wrap that is lightly oiled and continue to proof for another 15-30 minutes or until the dough fills the molds or pans.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degree with oven rack on the middle shelf for the small brioche shapes or 350 for the full loafs.
6. Bake the brioche for 15-20 minutes for the small brioche and 35-50 minutes for the larger loaves. The internal temperature should register above 180 degrees for the small ones and about 190 for the larger shapes. The bread will sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.
7. Remove the brioches or loaves from the pans as soon as they come out of the oven and cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes for the small brioches and 1 hour for the larger loaves before serving.

I really thought I was going to get a lot of things posted this holiday season, but such is life time got away from me. My grandmother got sick then passed away the week before Christmas, so posting didn’t really seem that important. So, I apologize for all my cookie recipes being a bit on the late side since it is already the new year. I wish my readers a very happy and healthy new year! Thank you for reading and may your baking attempts all be wondrous successes!

Ingredients:

• 1- 8 oz block of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups (9 oz, 255 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2-3/4 cup of raspberry jam (depending on how much jam you like)

1. Beat the cream cheese until smooth and slightly fluffy. Add the butter and beat until no bits of butter are visible. Add in the sugar, salt and vanilla and mix until just combined. Add in all the flour and mix until a a dough ball forms and no dry flour bits remain.
2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and divide it into four equal pieces. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 1 week.
3. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and knead it a bit on the counter to make sure it is nicely pressed together. This helps prevent it from cracking in the middle while your are rolling.
4. Roll the dough out on a generously floured counter-top. Make sure to dust the top with flour to prevent sticking. Roll the dough out into a 1/8″ thick rectangle. Spread about 3 TB of raspberry jam evenly over the surface of the dough leaving a 1″ border on the bottom side. The jam will spread down to the bottom as you roll.
5. With the long side facing you, roll the dough up starting with the side farthest from you. Cut the log into 1 inch pieces and place each piece on a parchment lined baking sheet. Proceed with steps 3-5 for the remaining three balls of dough.  Place all of your cookies back into the refrigerator while the oven preheats.
6. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees with the racks evenly positioned in the center.
7. Bake your cookies for 20-23 minutes or until they are a light golden brown color. Rotate your pans from top to bottom halfway through your baking if you are baking more than one tray at a time. Allow the cookies to cool only briefly on the pan before removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

This year was my first attempt at making gingerbread. I never really thought I liked it before, but always thought my Christmas cookie platter looked like it was missing something without those little men smiling back at me. I decided to try a recipe from Peggy Porschen’s Pretty Party Cakes and everyone really enjoyed it. I am so glad that I finally gave them a try. Now, those little men will never again be left out from my holiday celebrations. Next year….little women to keep them company!

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3 2/3 cups (16.5 oz, 467 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 6 TB honey
• 2 TB orange juice
• 2 TB ground cinnamon
• 2 TB ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TB vanilla extract

1. Place the dark brown sugar, honey, orange juice, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, salt and vanilla into a medium saucepan. Place it over medium high heat and bring it to a boil stirring often. You want the mixture to be quite bubbly and foamy looking on the surface. This will ensure that the sugar has completely dissolved.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the pieces of butter until completely melted. Stir in the baking soda and allow the mixture to cool until just warm.
3. Pour the mixture into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir in the flour and combine well by hand or on low speed with the mixer. Divide the dough into to pieces and wrap each piece in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 1-3 hours. You can leave it in there for a few days, but it will be harder to roll out, so you may need to let it warm up on the counter for a bit.
4. Remove the dough from the plastic wrap and knead it a few times on the counter. Generously flour your counter and the top of your dough. Using two 1/4″ dowels as guides you can roll the dough out to an exact thickness or you can do it by eye. For cut-out cookies I really like uniformity so I always use the dowels. Cut your cookies into the desired shape then re-roll the scrapes up to 3 times to get the most out of your dough.
5. Place the cookies carefully onto silpat or parchment lined baking sheets. Place the cookies back into the refrigerator to make sure they are nice and chilled.
6. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees with the rack placed evenly in the middle of the oven. Bake your cookies for 10-12 minutes or just until they are firm to the touch. If  you are baking more than one tray at a time you will need to rotate the pans from the top to the bottom halfway through baking. Decorate with royal icing and any other adornments you choose.

adapted from: Peggy Porschen’s Pretty Party Cakes

This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe of all time. It makes the perfect dough that is easy to roll out and the cut out designs hold their shape perfectly. I use 1/4″ dowels as guides to roll the dough to a perfectly even thickness, but you can just estimate a 1/4″ if you don’t already have the dowels. This recipe is adapted from: Pretty Party Cakes: Sweet and Stylish Cakes and Cookies for all Occasions.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter, softened but still cool
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 TB vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 3 cups (13.5 oz, 383 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1. Cream your butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Do this just until no bits of butter remain un-incorporated. The key is to not over mix the butter, that way the cut out cookies will retain their sharp lines.
2. Add the eggs, salt, and extracts. Mix until just combined.
3. Add in the flour and mix until no dry bits of flour remain. Turn your dough out onto a very lightly floured counter and knead it a few times by hand to make sure the dough is evenly mixed. Divide the dough into two pieces and wrap them in plastic wrap. Place them into the refrigerator for 1 hour or up to 3 days.
4. Roll the cookies out a floured counter to the desired thickness. Then place them, evenly spaced on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Put them back in the refrigerator while your oven preheats.
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees with the racks even spaced in the middle of the oven.
6. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through (that is if you are baking more than one tray at a time). The cookies will be still very light but they will be firm to the touch and slightly brown on the underside. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before decorating them with royal icing.

Ingredients:

• 200 grams of refreshed levain or pre-ferment*
• 350 grams whole wheat flour
• 150 grams unbleached all-purpose flour
• 400 grams room temperature water
• 10 grams of salt
• 100 grams raisins

1. Place the water and levain or pre-ferment into a large bowl and stir to loosen the pre-ferment up. Then add in your flours and stir until no dry bits of flour remain. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp cloth. Place the dough in a warm place around 75-80 degrees and allow to rest or autolyze for 40 minutes.
2. Add your salt and raisins to the dough and give your dough a turn by lifting the dough up from the bottom of the bowl and folding it over the top. Let the dough rise for 3-4 hours giving it a turn every half an hour for the first 3 hours. This takes the place of kneading by giving the dough a long fermentation with gentle gluten development through the turning.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and shape it into a rough round. Cover the dough with lightly oiled plastic wrap or the inverted bowl and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
4. Shape the dough into a round boule by turning it over so that the smooth side is down on the counter then fold the right third of the dough to the center then fold the left third to the center. Then repeat with the top and bottom. Now you have a neat little package. Turn the dough over so that the smooth side is now facing up and gently pull the dough towards you on the counter while cupping it to get a nice tight round shape. You can also shape it into a batard.
5. Place the dough into a well floured dough rising basket or a bowl lined with a well-floured linen cloth. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise at a warm room temperature for 2-3 hours, or until it is light and has risen by almost double.
6. Preheat the oven with a baking stone on the middle rack and a cast iron skillet set on bottom rack to 500 degrees. If you have a dutch oven you can use that instead of the baking stone and skillet. The dutch oven with a lid will create a little oven inside your oven to mimic a professional oven. It will trap steam that is baking off of the bread in the dutch oven, preventing a crust from forming too quickly.
7. When you are ready to bake, carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven (that is if you are using one), remove the lid and invert your dough carefully into the dutch oven. Score the top, replace the lid and put the whole dutch oven back into the oven and bake for twenty minutes. Alternatively, if you are baking directly on the stone, turn your dough out onto the stone and score the top. Then pour ½ cup of water into the cast iron skillet. Quickly close the door and allow the loaf to bake for 20 minutes. For both methods reduce the heat to 450 degrees after the first 20 minutes of baking. Remove the lid from the dutch oven if you are using that and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the loaf is a deep brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Allow the loaf to cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours. * to make a pre-ferment instead of using a sourdough, combine together 100 grams (3.5 oz, a little less than 1/2 cup) of water and 100 grams (3.5 oz, a little over 2/3 cup) of all-purpose four with a ¼ tsp of instant yeast. Let stand at room temperature for 4-8 hours or until it is bubbly and smells sweet and yeasty.

This recipe makes a lot of icing, probably enough to decorate 75 – 3″ sugar cookies. It dries hard which makes it great for decorating cookies and making fanciful decorations for cakes.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. sifted powdered sugar
• 2 TB sifted meringue powder
• 1 TB lemon juice
• 2/3 cup of water

1. Combine in a stand mixer your sifted powdered sugar and sifted meringue powder. Add your lemon juice to the water. Turn the stand mixer on low and slowly pour in about two thirds of the water/lemon mixture. Mix until all the sugar is incorporated then add water if the mixture looks a bit dry and crumbly. You want it to be smooth and pretty thick. You can always add more water, but it is hard to dry it back out once it gets to thin, so add the extra water slowly.
2. Turn the mixer on medium high and let the the icing beat for 5-8 minutes or until medium stiff peaks are formed. It is almost like whipping egg whites. This will give you a smooth icing that will harden nicely.
3. Store the icing in a tightly sealed container for up to a week in the refrigerator. Thin out to the desired consistency with a bit of water. You can also add flavoring extracts to suit your taste.

I thought that I was just about done for the year with apples. I had received so many apples free from my co-worker that I was beginning to think I never wanted to peel another apple again, but alas, my father-in-law dropped off three huge bags of apples that he bought at the orchard up the road from us. He knew that one variety was McIntosh, but the other bag he told me were baking apples. “Baking apples” is a rather vague variety, but in all honesty they seemed to all be the about the same. Apple season is over here, so I believe that the were a bit past their prime, but they still tasted really nice in this cake. I think we will use the rest of them to make applesauce. They just won’t hold their shape for pie baking or even apple crisp. This recipe is adapted from smitten kitchen. I increased the apples, changed the flour to include whole wheat, and added cinnamon to the batter as well as the apples. I also tweaked a bit of the procedure, but the recipe originated from there and it is a really tasty and moist cake. It might be a nice breakfast for Thanksgiving morning, unless you are going to fast until the big meal!

Ingredients:

• 8 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1/2″-3/4″ pieces
• 1 TB cinnamon
• 5 TB sugar

• Slightly less than 2 cups (245 g, 8.65 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup plus 2 TB (143, 5 oz) whole wheat flour
• 1 TB baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 sour cream
• 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with the rack positioned in the middle. Grease a tube pan or large bundt pan with butter and lightly dust with flour. Toss the apples with the cinnamon and sugar and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl sift together the flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate medium sized bowl mix together the oil, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time.
3. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones until no bits of dry ingredients remain.
4. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread half of the apples over it. Pour the remaining batter over the apples and then spread the rest of the remaining apples on top. Bake for 1-1 1/2 hours, or until a tester comes out clean or with just a few crumbs clinging to it. Allow to cool on a wire rack for ten minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and allow it to cool completely or until just warm.

I really love playing with my favorite sourdough recipe. I have tried all different types of flour from spelt to oat, but this version made with freshly ground whole wheat flour is my new favorite (although I am sure I am not done playing with it yet). It is about one part whole wheat to two parts unbleached bread flour, so it is a bit healthier due to the whole grains, but it is by no means a 100% whole wheat loaf. I do think you can get away with adding more whole wheat flour to it, by just removing equivalent weights of the bread flour. I did use a good amount of instant yeast as well, about 1/2 of a teaspoon, due to the added weight of the whole wheat flour and raisins. You can omit the instant yeast, but your loaf may be a bit denser, because the wild yeast does not give your loaf the same lift.

Ingredients:

• 300 grams refreshed levain (10.6 oz, about 1 1/2 cups)
• 292 grams water (10.3 oz, 1 1/4 cup)
• 200 grams whole wheat flour (7 oz, 1 1/2 cup)
• 290 grams unbleached bread flour (10.25 oz, 2 1/4 cup)
• 13 grams salt (0.45 oz, 2 tsp.)
• 2 grams instant yeast (0.10 oz, 1/2 tsp.)
• 150 grams raisins (5.2 oz, 1 cup)

1. Place your levain and water into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Stir to loosen up the levain. Add your flours and yeast and mix until a rough dough forms about 3 minutes by hand and 1 minute on low in a stand mixer. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and allow your dough to rest or autolyze for 20-30 minutes.
2. Add your salt to the dough and begin kneading by hand or stand mixer. If you are kneading by hand turn your dough out onto a counter that has only a light dusting of flour on it and knead for 8-10 minutes or until you have a dough that is smooth and elastic and can pass a windowpane test. If you are kneading by machine mix on medium speed for 4-5 minutes. Your dough will have the same properties that the hand kneaded dough has. I like to turn it out onto a counter and knead it by hand for a minute to really make sure the dough is kneaded completely. Add your raisins and mix for another minute or until the raisins are evenly distributed throughout.
3. Place your dough back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. After 30 minutes give the dough a turn, which is a gentle stretching of the dough onto itself for extra strength and I find it gives the dough a more irregular interior crumb. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap again. Allow the dough to rise for another 1-1 1/2 hours or until it has almost doubled in bulk.
4. Turn your risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and tuck into a rough ball. Place your bowl, inverted, over the dough and allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes. This will make it easier to shape the final loaf.
5. Shaping your batard: Turn your dough so that the smooth side is down on the surface of the counter and gently press it out into a rough rectangle.  With the short side facing you, fold the bottom third of the dough to the center and press firmly on the edge to make a tight seam. Then fold the top third down to the center and press firmly on the edge to make a tight seam. Then fold the whole loaf in half and press firmly along the edge to create another tight seam. Lightly roll the loaf back and forth to elongate it slightly. Place the loaf in a well-floured dough rising basket (seam side up) or between the folds of a well-floured baker’s linen or couche (seam side down). Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and allow to proof at room temperature for 1-1 1/2 hours or until almost doubled in bulk. An indentation made with your finger will spring back slowly when your dough is fully proofed. If it springs back quickly let your dough rise for another 15 minutes, then recheck.
6. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees an hour before you plan on baking your loaf. Position a baking stone on the middle rack and a cast iron skillet on the floor of your oven or on one of the lower racks.
7. Turn your loaf out onto a floured baker’s peel or onto a piece of parchment paper. Score the top with two evenly spaced diagonal slashes, going down the center, about 1/2″ deep.
8. Slide your loaf directly onto the baking stone and pour 1/2 cup of water into the cast iron skillet. Quickly close the door and reduce the temperature to 475 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes then reduce the temperature to 400 and bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until the loaf is a dark brown color and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. If you were to insert an instant read thermometer into the loaf it would register at 200-210 degrees in the center. Transfer the loaf to a wire cooling rack and allow it to fully cool before slicing.

I think it was back in May or June; I was searching for new bread “stuff” on the internet like I often do. I probably drive my husband crazy with all the bread baking equipment I buy or ask for presents. He is at the point where he has no other option than to build me pieces of furniture for storage space. Unfortunately for him, it is unlikely that I will stop collecting anytime soon and most of the toys that come in don’t leave. Lucky for me he seems to like to build things.

But back to the point, I came across Brod and Taylor’s site for the folding bread proofer, and it sounded intriguing to me. I am always being asked by students where the best spot is to allow your dough to ferment and proof. I typically let my dough ferment at a warm room temperatures, somewhere between 74 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so during the summer I really have no trouble at all getting my dough to rise. It is during our long and cold New England winters that this challenge of finding a warm spot comes into play. So, I read a little bit on the product and saw that it had a temperature range that went as low as 70 degrees and as high as 120, which to me is too high for fermentation, but the site said you could do other things in the higher temperature range, like melt chocolate or make yogurt. I was glad to see that it has potential to be a multi-purpose appliance. I don’t make a ton of yogurt, but I definitely think using the proofer would be a great tool to make it in. Soooo, how much is it and should I buy it? Well, I now know that it retails for $159 (which is less than I thought it would be) and but I couldn’t buy it because it was still in the development stages (it is now for sale). I figured I would contact them and find out more information. I couldn’t sign-up to be a product tester, because the deadline for that had already passed by the time I came across the site. The real kicker for me was that when I went to their contact page I found out they are based out of the exact same town as me! That was my clincher, I had to at least try and meet with the product developer, I mean we are practically neighbors. Well, long story short we met at the local coffee shop and had a nice chat about the product and bread in general, and he offered to let me try one of the proofers when the demo ones came in.

Since we are basically neighbors he asked if I might be interested in helping him with some product demo videos. I thought it would be fun to be filmed in a kind of professional setting with some serious equipment and editing, instead of just my camera set up on a tripod in my sun-room. This was my first time getting to actually see the product and try it out, now mind you it was one of the hottest weeks during the summer, butter was literally melting on my counter. Luckily, his house was highly air conditioned, so we could get a feel for how the proofer would perform on cooler days. I really liked the fact that they took into account not only warmth, but humidity as well when designing the proofer. Dough really does like a slightly warm and moist environment to ferment in. Even though I did get to use the proofer during the shoot, I didn’t get a real feel for how it would do during an actual cold day. It was a kind of rushed environment and of course it was 90 degrees outside, so the dough didn’t need too much help. So, I was left to wait until a few weeks ago when my test proofer came in, which means now I am starting to put it through its paces and see how it really performs.

This past weekend it was chilly and raining outside, absolutely perfect day for hanging inside with my son and baking bread. Michael, the proofer inventor, wanted me to develop a recipe or two for the product manual that would clearly explain how to use the proofer when making bread. I decided to start with something a little simple and went with country wheat sandwich bread. It isn’t a high ratio of whole wheat flour so it is still pretty easy to knead and I figured it was bread that you would want to rise at a nice consistently warm temperature. The first thing I did was plug in the proofer, set it to 85 degrees, and poured a small amount of water into the tray. I wish the spot where the electrical cord plugs in was located at the back of the machine, but it is located right by the control panel. I say this because I have a hard time positioning it on my counter so that it is set up facing me; instead I have to have it kind of kitty cornered so it can be both on the counter and reach an electrical outlet. I then made my wheat dough which, I kneaded by stand mixer. I have these great dough rising containers that have red marks on them at the 1 and 2 quart level, so I placed my dough in a lightly oiled dough rising container. That way I could see exactly when it had doubled in volume. I wanted to be able to give an accurate time in the recipe and since I can tell people what temperature to set their proofer on, there shouldn’t be too much difference in the rise time between batches. Of course there will be slight difference depending on how active your yeast is and your elevation, but as a whole it should be in a much tighter range than without that temperature control. I set a timer for one hour, but it wasn’t doubled by then. I gave it 30 more minutes and it was perfect. Usually in the dead of winter I am lucky to have dough rise in two hours, so I was happy with the result, and I guess if you want it done a bit faster you can up the temperature a bit. I really don’t like to rush my dough’s rise, because I think it hurts the flavor of the finished product, but it is nice when it rises in a timely fashion. I shaped the dough into a loaf and placed into a greased pan, then put it right back into the proofer for its final rise. It was nice not to have to worry about covering the dough with plastic wrap. I could just stick it into the proofer and let it rise.

I am going to continue to use the proofer in the coming weeks and see how it changes my bread baking. I am really interested in using it to warm dough that I have placed in the refrigerator for an overnight fermentation. It can take a long time for a batch of refrigerator temp dough to come up to room temperature. So, I think it is going to be a really handy tool, since I refrigerate a lot of dough. I think that Brod and Taylor have come up with a really useful and innovative tool for the home bread baker, which helps to solve a problem that many of us are faced with when baking bread. I look forward to seeing how it continues to perform during the cold winter months.

Brod & Taylor Folding Proofer in closed position.

Brod & Taylor Folding Proofer in open position.

Brod & Taylor Folding Proofer side controls.

My son, Parker, used to eat everything I tried to feed him up until he was about 15 months old. Now he is nearing 19 months and gives me the tight-lipped, “I refuse to eat that concoction you call food” face. That is until I fed him these. I did not even assemble them yet, I just grabbed one that was still slightly warm off the cooling rack and gave it to him as a pre-dinner snack. The first look he gave me was one that made me think he was going to throw it to the floor for the dog, but for some reason he gave it a second look and took a bite. He then proceeded to eat two more whoopie pie halves, followed by a pretty complete dinner, summed up with half of a completed pumpkin whoopie pie. Now for those of you out there who think that I am a terrible mother for feeding my son cakes instead of healthy vegetables, I hear you. I was feeling pretty guilty about it myself, but then I rationalized that there is healthy pumpkin in these and dairy and protein in the cream cheese filling. I am not saying that I am going to feed him like this all the time, but it was truly great to see him eat without fighting with me.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups (383 g, ) all-purpose flour
• 1 TB + 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 cup sugar (152 g,
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (152 g,
• 3/4 cup canola oil (143 g, )
• 2 cups pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the filling:

• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, with the oven racks spaced evenly apart for even air circulation. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves, and pumpkin pie spice.
3. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer combine the sugars and the oil together. Mix together with a spoon or the paddle attachment until no lumps of dark brown sugar are visible. (Dark brown sugar doesn’t dissolve as well as white so sometimes it needs extra mixing to fully incorporate.) Add the pumpkin puree and stir to combine. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until fully combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin and sugar mixture and stir until fully combined. Allow the batter to rest for 5-10 minutes so it will thicken up. This will make it easier to scoop and it will also keep the cakes from spreading too much during baking.
5. Use a small cookie scoop (I used one that was probably a little over a tablespoon) or a large tablespoon to drop a rounded blob of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, at least 1 inch apart.
6. Bake for 9-12 minutes (my oven was exactly 10), rotating the pans from top to bottom once during baking). A toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. I prefer slightly under baking versus over baking, that way they are not too dry. Remove the cakes to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before filling them. Repeat with two more trays of dough.
7. To make the filling: beat the butter until it is very smooth, add the cream cheese and beat again until very smooth and fully combined, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and beat until no dry sugar remains. Add in the vanilla and beat until smooth.
8. Assembling the whoopie pies:  I first tried to find matches for all my pies, because even though you try to make them as even as possible, inevitably some pair up better than others. On the flat side of half the cakes spoon out 1 tablespoon of filling. Then take its match and place it flat side down on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edges of the cake. Repeat on the rest of the cakes. Allow the cakes/cookies to set up in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. For some reason the flavors really come through better when they have the chance to cool down. Makes approximately 24 assembled whoopie pies.