Gingerbread Whoopie Pies with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling #ChristmasWeek

Welcome to Christmas Week, a multi-blogger event co-hosted by Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic and Jen of Juanita’s Cocina. Each day we will be celebrating a new holiday baking theme where each blogger makes a dish they love. We hope you enjoy this fabulous event. Tune in each day starting Monday December 3rd and ending Friday December 6th.

Welcome to day 4 of #ChristmasWeek! I’m seriously so honored that both Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic and Jen of Juanita’s Cocina asked me to be a part of this series because it really pushed me to get out of my comfort zone and try things that have been on my bucket list for quite some time now, like monkey bread and now whoopie pies.

I actually didn’t think I liked whoopie pies. The first time I had one was at Corner Bakery Cafe two years ago and it was just way too sweet for my taste. But when I saw these whoopie pies on Tracey’s Culinary Adventures, I knew I just had to make them ASAP.

I’m not sure why I was so intimidated to make whoopie pies. It’s basically a cookie recipe, a frosting recipe and then having to pipe on the frosting and sandwich the cookies.

It’s not bad at all, right? It is a bit more work than say a regular cookie but in the end, you get 2 cookies in every bite with the most heavenly cream cheese frosting in the middle with just the right amount of lemon in it.

Yeah, these are definitely better than the plain old non-frosted, non-sandwich cookies. I’m not even sure if I can even go back to those cookies now that I’ve discovered the world of whoopie pies.

Today’s theme for Christmas Week is “Gingerbread Surprise”. Be sure to visit all the participating bloggers today to see what special dish they whipped up for you!

• Mini Gingerbread Donuts from Jen of Juanita’s Cocina
• Gingerbread Biscotti from Liz of That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Chocolate Gingerbread Bundt Cake with Bourbon Cream Cheese Drizzle from Anuradha of Baker Street
• Gingerbread Donuts with Lemon Glaze from Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Mini Holiday Gingerbread Loaves from Isabelle of Crumb
• Gingerbread Biscoff Truffles from Erin of Dinners, Dishes and Desserts
• Gingerbread Dip from Erin of The Spiffy Cookie
• Gingerbread Milkshake from Ramona of Curry and Comfort 
• Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars from Heather of Girlichef
• Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls from Cathy of The Dutch Baker’s Daughter

Gingerbread Whoopie Pies with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling (adapted from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures):

Yields 36 whoopie pies

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup molasses
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

For the lemon cream cheese filling:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 lemon

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in egg until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture at low speed, beating just until incorporated.

With the mixer on low speed, add milk, molasses and dry ingredients alternately in 3 parts, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated.

Drop tablespoons of batter onto prepared baking sheet. Place into oven and bake until edges are golden brown but center is still moist, about 10-12 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add powdered sugar, beating just until incorporated. Add vanilla and lemon zest. Increase speed to medium high and beat until frosting is light and fluffyy, about 1-2 minutes.

To assemble the whoopie pies, divide the filling among half the cookies, spreading out to the edges, then top with remaining cookies.

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