Chocolate Oatmeal Cream Pies With Pumpkin Spiced Frosting

Chocolate makes everything better! I have made original Oatmeal Cream Pies, and I have also made Pumpkin Spiced Oatmeal Cream Pies with Maple Frosting, but something wonderful happens when chocolate is added to the picture! I changed up the frosting by adding pumpkin puree (pumpkin butter can also be used), which is such a perfect combination with the chocolate cookie.

Oatmeal cream pies are one of my childhood favorites! It is simply a good reason to eat two cookies at once. The frosting adds just a little extra sweetness, but for this recipe, I really like adding some spice to the frosting, because I think it adds more depth to the pumpkin flavor.

With Halloween coming up this weekend, I thought that the color combination would be a fun choice for a Halloween themed cookie. If you want the frosting color to be more orange looking, add a little bit of orange food coloring.

The type of cocoa powder that is added to the dough is really important, because not all cocoa powders are created equal. When you are at the store, or searching online, the choice can be overwhelming, but I really like Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder. I know that King Arthur make really good cocoa power, and you can’t really go wrong with Valrhona. The best way to decide on which cocoa power you like is to keep trying different kinds, and I hate to say it, but usually the most expensive is the best! Sorry!

Chocolate Oatmeal Cream Pies With Pumpkin Spiced Frosting

Ingredients

• For the cookies:

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (recipe on www.fromscratchwithmaria.com)

• 3 cups ground uncooked oats (***see notes below***); measured after processed in the food processor

• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 cup brown sugar

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 egg, room temperature

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• For the filling:

• ½ cup butter, room temperature

• 2-3 cups powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (recipe on www.fromscratchwithmaria.com)

• 1-2 tablespoon pumpkin puree; or pumpkin butter

• 1-3 tablespoons half and half or milk; room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ***NOTE you don’t have to use ground of oats in this, but it creates a much nicer cookie. If you are making this without grinding the oats in the food processor, I recommend using a mix of old fashioned oats and quick cooking***

Instructions

1. *Preheat oven to 350

2. *In a food processor, process the oats until they are roughly ground up, not too fine, you still want to have good texture from them, measure out 3 cups AFTER they have been ground up

3. *Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cocoa powder, and ground oats together in a bowl; set aside

4. *In a stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer beat together the butter and sugars until light and creamy

5. *Add egg and vanilla; mix well

6. *Slowly add the dry ingredients just until combined; It’s a pretty thick dough

7. *Use a cookie scoop, or two spoons, to scoop out about a tablespoon size amount of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

8. *Make sure to space them out about 2 inches

9. *Bake 7-9 minutes, or until the middle is set, careful not to over-bake

10. *While the cookies are cooling make the filling

11. *Combine the butter, 2 cups of powdered sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or use a hand mixer and a bowl; mix until the powdered sugar starts to dissolve into the butter

12. *Add in the pumpkin puree, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the half and half (or milk); Add 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree for more of a pumpkin flavor

13. *Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy; if the mixture seems too thick you can add more half and half, if it is too thin, or separates, add more powdered sugar

14. *Once the cookies have cooled, scoop about 1-2 teaspoons (or however much you like) of frosting on the bottom of one cookie, and sandwich it with the bottom of another cookie by placing it on top of the frosting; repeat with the rest of of the cookies to create about 25-30 complete oatmeal cream pies depending on how large you make them