Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies with Ginger Cream Cheese Filling

These taste like carrot cake in miniature form with a cream cheese filling.  The grated carrots help to make these a healthy snack.

Ingredients: 

Cookies- 

2 cups all purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

½ cup butter at room temperature

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

1 ½ cups grated carrots (4 to 5 carrots)

Filling-

8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese at room temperature

½ cup butter softened

¾ cup powdered sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Directions: 

Cookies–

1. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium bowl.
2. Beat ½ cup butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a stand mixer at medium speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. 
3. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. 
4. Add vanilla extract and mix in. 
5. Add flour mixture at a low speed ½ cup at a time scraping the edge of the bowl as needed. 
6. Add in the carrots and mix on low to incorporate.
7. Transfer dough to a covered bowl or cover the mixing bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour. 
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. 
9. Use a cookie scooper to form tablespoon size balls.  Place balls on the baking sheet at least 2 inches apart.
10. (Optional- Roll balls in granulated sugar if you want to add a crunch element).
11. Bake 10-12 minutes until cookies spring bake.  (You want cookies baked, but still soft).
12. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to wire racks to let cookies cool completely. 
13. Flip over half of the cookies so you can add the filling to the flat part of the cookie. 

Filling-

1. Beat cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  
2. Beat in the powdered sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. Continue to beat until the mixture is smooth.  Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. 
3. Transfer to a icing tool or piping bag. Use a medium to large tip of your choice. 
4. Pipe to swirl the filling to cover the base of half of the cookies. Gently press another cookie on top to make sandwich cookies. 
5. Store in an air-tight container. 
6. Enjoy!