Butternut Whoopie Pies with Goat Cream Cheese Filling

The leaves are turning bright yellow and orange in Montana, the air is crisp and it’s set to snow tomorrow. It’s about time my pumpkin and winter squash recipes start appearing!

And so the goat cheese craving continues…yet this time in sweet form 🙂 You are welcome? Don’t be scared! These butternut whoopie pies have a slightly tangy but deliciously sweet and creamy filling to compliment the autumnal spiced cake-like cookies.

This recipe was adapted from King Arthurs’ pumpkin whoopie pies to make them gluten free. I cut the recipe in half since it was a “test recipe”, and I sure wish I hadn’t. These were delicious! I used up the last bit of King Arthur’s gluten free multi-purpose mix with this recipe, but I think that any all-purpose gluten free mix can be substituted.

A few other tweaks I made were eliminating the cloves since I didn’t have any on hand, reducing the sugar a bit while adding in some stevia, using butternut squash puree for the pumpkin (it’s my favorite of the winter squashes) and subbing honey for the molasses. Yummm.

A “baby” whoopie pie! Oh how I love mini foods 🙂 

I’ll be making a FULL batch again soon, and I’ll definitely be using this goat cream cheese filling as a frosting…I could eat that on all toast, cookies, cake or even apple slices 🙂 I thought it was plenty sweet but feel free to tweak the sweetener based on your preference.

Butternut Whoopie Pies with Goat Cheese Filling (adapted from King Arthur)

Ingredients

For the cookie

1/4 cup butter  or ghee (use Earth Balance for dairy-free), room temperature
1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or other neutral tasting oil)
2/3 cup coconut palm sugar (or other granulated sweetener)
1 Tbsp honey (or molasses)
1/8 tsp pure stevia (or 3-4 more Tbsp sugar)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 large egg
3/4 cup butternut squash puree (or other winter squash puree or pumpkin)
1 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp King Arthur’s Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose mix
3/4 tsp xanthan gum

For the filling
3 ounces of cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat version)
2 ounces of mild chevre (goat cheese), at room temperature
1 tbsp butter, ghee or Earth Balance, room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp honey, maple syrup or agave (or more to taste for sweeter filling)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat mat and set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine butter, oil, coconut sugar, honey, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
3. Add in butternut puree and eggs and whisk until combined.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and the xanthan gum. Add to the wet ingredients until combined.
5. Scoop the thick batter onto prepared cookie sheet (size will depend on how big you want your pies to be). Bake smaller cookies for 12-13 minutes and larger one for 16-17 or until lightly golden around edges and slightly firm to touch while still soft. Remove from oven and let cool completely while you prepare filling.
6. Use a beater or a mixer, beat cream cheese, chevre and butter until light and creamy. Add in vanilla and sweetener to taste.
7. To assemble, spread filling on bottom of one cookie and place another cookie on top to create a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Enjoy!

Makes about one dozen 2 inch whoopie pies or 6-7 (4-inch) pies