Gingerbread Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Cream

As soon as Thanksgiving is over, we seem to automatically turn our attention away from fall flavors, like pumpkin and apples in favor of Christmas-sy ingredients, such as gingerbread and peppermint.  And we can’t think of a better sweet to kick off the holiday season with than these aromatic, slightly spicy Whoopie Pies; pillowy gingerbread cookies cradling a cloud of luscious peppermint cream!

Ingredients:

For the Whoopie Pies:
3 cups of flour
2 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 sticks of butter, softened and divided
3/4 cups of firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of molasses
1 egg
1/4 cup of granulated sugar

For the Peppermint Cream:
7 ounces of marshmallow cream
1/4 cup of butter, softened
4 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon of peppermint extract
1 cup of crushed peppermint candies

Directions:
Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl and set aside.  Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add molasses, egg and vanilla and beat well.  Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.  Press dough into a thick flat disk.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar to coat.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown.  Remove to wire racks and cool completely.

For the peppermint crème, mix marshmallow, butter, cream cheese and peppermint extract in a bowl until well blended.  To assemble whoopie pies, place about 1 tablespoon filling on the flat side of 1 cookie.  Top with a second cookie, pressing gently to spread the filling.  Repeat with remaining cookies.  Roll the edges of the cookies in crushed candy.