Pumpkin Whoopee Pies with Cream Cheese Filling
Makes 20 pies

Who doesn't love a good whoopee pie?!  Close your eyes and think back to the Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies before going gluten free...now open them and take a bite into these deliciously soft puffs of heavenly sweetness.  My non-Celiac husband couldn't keep his hands off of them!  My chef brother asked for the recipe - the highest accolade!  I couldn't even set them down from carrying them to my Thanksgiving destination before 6 more non-Celiac hands were grabbing them off the plate!  They left me no time to take a picture (nevermind turn the camera on), so I borrowed one from the internet.

3 cups gluten free flour blend
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Splenda
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 - 15 oz. can of pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat together brown sugar, Splenda, white sugar, oil and pumpkin. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition, followed by the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. 
Using a medium ice cream scoop, drop cookies on greased baking sheet.  Spray a spatula with cooking spray or dampen your fingers with water and press slightly to flatten.  Bake for 11 minutes and cool on a rack.

Note: for a crispier cookie, reduce the brown sugar and increase the white sugar 1:1; for a flatter cookie, use butter instead of oil 1:1.

Cream Cheese Filling
1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick of unsalted butter or favorite shortening, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
about a capful of vanilla extract
a pinch of cinnamon (to taste)
a squeeze of maple syrup

Beat together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, syrup, and cinnamon. Frost flat side of half the pies (I used a ziploc bag with a corner cut off; a spoon or pastry bag would work just as well) and top with another piece. 

Enjoy right away or chill overnight.