Too many goodies

[jethrien]

Sigh. Was ravenously hungry all day, and kept snacking on the leftovers from last night's office party. Now, I fear that I've spoiled my dinner.

Ah well, at least some of them had some nutritional content.

Comments

[firynze.livejournal.com]

...now, see, I end up doing that and then eating dinner anyway.

This is why I have weight issues. *sigh*

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

We'll see how I feel when I get home, but right now I don't even particularly want dinner.

Yesterday was actually better, in that I just planned that party food was dinner. I made sure to eat well balanced enough snacks to count as a meal, and called it a day. (Not that I was totally virtuous, here - potato chips and whoopie pies do not a food group make. They were, however, delicious.)

[firynze.livejournal.com]

And honestly, delicious is what counts. Mmmm, whoopie pies.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Peppermint ones - the person who made them had crushed candy canes in the filling.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

OH MAN.

That's almost as good as pumpkin-maple ones.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I do pumpkin ones with cream cheese frosting and chopped candied ginger. Sooo good. It's like the essence of fall in a cookie.

I also got a jar of maple cream this fall (syrup that's been boiled down until it's halfway to candy), and put that in a cream cheese frosting and put it all on a pumpkin cake.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I haven't tried with ginger. I should find a recipe.

I have maple cream in the fridge. I live in Vermont, trust me, I know what it is. ;-)

(and that cake sounds AMAZING)

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Figured as much. We got ours at a farmers' market in Western Mass.

You don't really need a recipe for the whoopie pies, if you already have a pumpkin whoopie pie base and a cream cheese frosting you're happy with. (Well, if you don't, then you do need a recipe, but it sounds like you've got the pumpkin part covered and I figured you would have a cream cheese frosting.) You just mince a bunch of candied ginger, stir it into the frosting, and slap that between cookies.

I adore candied ginger--I eat it straight--and I tend to throw it into half my fall recipes whether or not it was called for. I think my favorite ice cream ever was a cardamom-ginger ice cream that had bits of candied ginger in it.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

I actually don't have a pumpkin whoopie pie base I really like. Mine all either come out too dry or too sticky; I haven't gotten a really GOOD one yet.

I eat candied ginger straight, too. :-D

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

From the King Arthur Cookie Companion (speaking of Vermont, they're one of my favoritest stores ever):

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

1 1/2 cups (15 oz can) pumpkin
2 large eggs
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp molasses or dark corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease (or line with parchement) two large baking sheets.
2. Beat together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, oil, molasses. Beat in salt, spices, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. Add flour and beat for 1 minute until thoroughly combined. Drop in 1/4 cup meaures onto sheets, 2 inches apart.
4. Bake 10-12 minutes. Cookies will feel firm and a slight indentation will remain when you press your finger in the center.

They have a gelatin-stabilized filling. Gelatin and I don't get on so well. After the first disaster, I gave up and just used a cream cheese frosting with ginger stirred in.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Right. Trying this! Thank you!