Whoopee for whoopie pies. The popularity of whoopie pies is on the rise. We’ve been making our own for years and are now seeing the trend grow. You can create many varieties of whoopie pies from the always popular chocolate with buttery marshmallow filling to sweet strawberry pies with a creamy, subtle strawberry filling.

Autumn is now upon us. Soon, if not already, we will smell the aroma of fireplaces taking the chill out of the air. We will see leaves turning gold and red. And of course, we will seek out pumpkins. If each month had a flavor October and November would have to share. There is no other time in the year when pumpkin is so revered. It is the flavor of the season with all the warm inviting spices that go with it. Why not a pumpkin whoopie pie with a cream cheese filling! Oh, yum! The only thing that will make that combination better is if the pies were shaped like pumpkins.

Thanks to Crate and Barrel that is just what you can make: pumpkin shaped whoopie pies.

“Bake up seasonal pumpkin-shaped whoopie pies in autumn’s favorite flavors. Nonstick pan recreates the classic East Coast treat that food historians believe originated in Pennsylvania’s Amish country. Lore has it that farmers would shout “Whoopie!” when they found one of the sandwiched sweets in their lunch pails.”

We would like to share our enthusiasm for whoopie pies by offering this adorable Crate and Barrel Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Pan as our give away for October. Do you have a favorite whoopie pie flavor? Let us know in the comment section and we will enter you into the giveaway. If you’ve never had a whoopie pie, it is high time you tried one! Tell us if you’ve never eaten a whoopie pie and we will enter you into the giveaway, too! Those outside the US will receive an Amazon gift certificate.

How to enter:

1. Please add our link to your blog roll & let us know you did by commenting
2. Re-tweet This on Twitter & let us know you did by commenting
3. Like us on Facebook & let us know you did by commenting.
4. Tell us your favorite Whoopie Pie Flavor
5. Tell us if you have ever eaten one, and what your experience was.

The giveaway will end on Wednesday, October 19th.  We will announce the winner on the next day.

While you are waiting for the results of the giveaway why not try making our favorite whoopie pie recipe:

Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Ingredients for “cake”

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick ( ½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg

Ingredients for filling

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 cups marshmallow cream such as Marshmallow Fluff
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until combined. Stir together milk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a handheld, then add egg, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and alternately mix in flour mixture and milk in batches, beginning and ending with flour, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, and mixing until smooth.

Spoon tablespoon sized mounds of batter about 2 inches apart onto 2 buttered large baking sheets. Bake until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely.

For the filling

Beat together butter, confectioners’ sugar, marshmallow, and vanilla in a bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Assemble pies:

Spread a rounded tablespoon filling on flat sides of half of cakes and top with remaining cakes.

NOTE: For an easier time with the batter us a small ice cream scoop (or any size to your liking) to portion each cake evenly. Fill the whoopie pie by piping the filling instead of spreading with a knife.