Spiced Apple Whoopie Pies with Maple Cream Cheese

These little whoopie pies are fully embracing the fall season with so much apple. There’s reduced apple cider, apple butter, warm spices and then a luscious maple cream cheese filling. Reducing the cider really brings out the beautiful natural sweetness of the apples!

Ingredients

• 2 cup apple cider
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup apple butter
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Maple Cream Cheese Filling

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 Stick) butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

To reduce the apple cider, in a small sauce pan add the apple cider and place over medium low heat. Let it simmer away until it has reduced to 1/2 cup. It should take about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices whisk together until combined.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add the butter and sugars. Cream together until light and smooth. Add in the vegetable oil, apple sauce, eggs and vanilla. Continue to mix until smooth for about 2 minutes. Pour in the cooled reduced apple cider and the dry ingredients. Scraping down the sides as you go.

Once the batter is all mixed together, scoop 2 tbsp mounds onto a greased baking pan about 2 inches apart. Roll each one in cinnamon sugar if you wish. Bake for about 12-14 minutes. Make the filling as the cool.

For the filling, in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, add the cream cheese and butter. Whisk together for a couple minutes until smooth. Then pour in the maple syrup and vanilla and continue for another minute, scraping down the sides.

Pair the cookies up with like size cookies. Pipe about 1 1/2 tbsp filling onto one side, and sandwich together with the other cookies. Lightly press them together and set aside to continue with the rest. Keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. Enjoy!!