Just like a fond memory. Gluten Free Pumpkin Whoopie Pie.

Food is often equated with or can provoke both strong positive and negative memories. During the fall, as the weather cools and the leaves change color and fall to the ground, I think back fondly to my time in Pittsburgh when I was in library school. I loved the fall there. I can remember getting in my little kitchen and cooking my first ever Thanksgiving dinner. I remember hunched over a fingerprint covered copy of that month’s Food and Wine magazine, meticulously following the recipe for three elaborate dishes that I would serve only to myself. I wasn’t much of a foodie then, or even that creative of a cook, but I had my moments of brilliance.

Ingredients for the GF Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

One of the things that I discovered while in Pittsburgh (food wise) that I had never heard of, other than Fluffernutters and Salads and Sandwiches topped with handfuls of fries, were whoopie pies. According to Wikipedia: whoopie pie (alternatively called a gob, black-and-white, or bob) is a baked good made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, sometimes pumpkin cake, with a sweet, creamy frosting sandwiched between them. While considered a New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition, they are increasingly sold throughout the United States. According to food historians, Amish women would bake these and put them in farmers’ lunchboxes. When farmers would find these treats in their lunch, they would shout “Whoopie!”

Once I left Pittsburgh, I didn’t see these delicious treats again. Until, that is, I visited Vermont for the Vermont 50miler. As the description indicates, it is also a New England phenomenon and when my friend Glen was eating at the pre-race dinner the night before the race, he came back to the table with three desserts. One of which was a pumpkin whoopie pie. I was instantly lost in a memory of cool, crisp Pittsburgh fall evenings and the comfort of a pumpkin whoopie pie and a cup of tea, nestled down on my couch. I hadn’t thought about that time in my life for a while. And, I began seriously craving a pumpkin whoopie pie.

Folding the ingredients together

After I finally got home from my trip to Vermont & NYC, I decided to start testing a recipe for a gluten free/ egg free/soy free version of the pumpkin whoopie pie. While I would have loved to stuck with the Amish tradition of using eggs and normal flour, I simply cannot eat those things and so what would be the point of having my cake but not being able to eat it too?!?!

Cakes fresh out of the oven waiting to cool and be frosted!

I was quite pleasantly surprised at my first go-round with these. Their texture was absolutely spot on. Very light and fluffy, which is saying something considering gluten free flour usually does not lend itself to that. The frosting turned out creamy and dreamy once whipped the heck out of it the blender and then let it hang out in the fridge to tighten up. I took these pictures before I did that, thankfully I only frosted one “show” whoppie pie. Ok, let’s be honest, I couldn’t hardly wait so I made one I could gobble pretty immediately. It was brilliant! The frosting was not to heavy or sugary. The cakes were not heavy and not super sweet either. Admittedly, I had a second one once I let everything really cool and setup and it was out of sight. I love it when things get better with time.

Vanilla frosting and half a cake.

Today is a very crappy day. The bay is being slammed with bad weather, but these GF Pumpkin Whoopie Pies give me a sense of comfort and security no matter how hard the rain falls and the wind blows. I am comforted by the taste that floods my mouth with each nibble, but even more than that, I am comforted by the memories that are evoked in my mind and wrap my spirit in a sense of calm and coziness.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Whoopie Pie perfection!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ingredients

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 serving eggs replacer, equivalent to 2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 ½ cups bobs red mill gluten free flour mix
¾ tsp guar gum
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
¼ cup coconut flour
pinch salt
¾ cup almond milk
¾ cup butter
2 ½ cups confectioners sugar
3 ½ tsp vanilla extract

For the cakes:

Preheat the oven to 400 F and cover baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Prepare the egg replacer and add to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat well and add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, guar gum, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Add flour mixture to butter/sugar alternating adding the pumpkin puree. Mix well until smooth.

Drop rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheets leaving plenty of room for the cakes to spread out as they cook. Bake for 11-12 minutes until the spring back when lightly pressed. Cool completely and then frost and top with another cake. Wrap each whoopie pie individually in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

For the filling:

In a saucepan over medium heat whisk the flour and salt with the almond milk until the mixture is smooth and starts to thicken. Cool in the refrigerator.

In a blender meanwhile, cream butter and confectioner’s sugar and vanilla. Add the cooled milk mixture and blend until the filling thickens. Taste and add more sugar if more desired sweetness. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes until cool and thick before frosting.

One of the nice things about Mondays for me is the fact that it is a rest day, thus I have a bit more time to do some things that I can’t on any other day. Usually it doesn’t pan out that way however. I usually get wrapped up in work, errands and just trying to keep it together. Today however, was different. I had anticipated possibly cooking dinner for my co-worker Lauren and having our usual monday night tv watching at her place, but her mother had an accident, so I was on my own, but already my mind was made up to cook something fun and something I hadn’t done before. I was also hoping to make something that might be able to stretch for a few days, enabling me to have a bit more time to rest and relax after my long days of running, working and running.

With the up’ing of the thyroid meds, I have been absolutely ravenous. I feel like no matter what I eat, I am hungry again 20 minutes later. Usually, my appetite is quite surpressed during hard training, but not so for the last few days!

One of the things I love about fall is being able to able to tuck into heartier, warmer foods. I decided to make a spicy vegetable soup and pumpkin corn bread. I have been wanting to make pumpkin muffins or pumpkin spice cakes or something. When I came up with my soup recipe, the pumpkin corn bread (which is actually a modification of the muffin recipe) was the perfect sidekick. This meal was delicious and I had a blast dancing around the kitchen, listening to Frightened Rabbit. It made me feel comfortable and at home, and even though I am not really at home here in Atlanta, it just confirm to me that at this point in my life, I am happy just to be wherever I am.

Spicy Southwest Soup

Ingredients:
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small serrano pepper, minced
1 ear of fresh corn, cut of the cobb
1 medium yellow squash, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, quartered
1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
1 can chili beans (a mixture of red, pinto, etc), rinsed!!!
4 cups vegetable broth
salt, pepper and spices (I used my african peri-peri spice blend)
olive oil

Directions:
On medium high heat, heat the olive oil and saute onions, carrot, bell peppers until they start to soften. Add garlic, chili and spices and cook a few more minutes. Add corn, squash and mushrooms. Once all the vegetables have started to comingle, add in the diced tomatoes and beans. Give it a good stir and then add the vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Once the soup is simmering, you can get to making your pumpkin corn bread! I used Karina’s recipe (linked above) and I put the bather into a greased pan to make bread instead of muffins. The only modification I made was reducing the oil in the recipe from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup and upped the pumpkin puree a bit. Once the corn bread came out of the oven and cooled, I took the soup off, bowled it up and garnished it with a couple tablespoons of white cheddar and sliced avocado. To feed the savage beast that is my stomach, I also made a small side of brussel sprouts. This meal was delicious, balanced, healthy and just plain fun!

Spicy Southwest Soup with White Cheddar and Avocado

Pumpkin Corn Bread