Oatmeal Creme Whoopie Pies with Brown Butter Maple Cinnamon Filling

Happy Presidents' Day! If you have the day off, I hope you're enjoying it, and if you're working, I hope your work day goes by quickly. ;)

I am enjoying a day off and am about to do some baking...no big surprise there! But before I get started with my next recipe, I wanted to share with you this fabulous whoopie pie recipe - oatmeal creme cookies with an amazing brown butter maple cinnamon filling sandwiched between. Oh man.

I used a recipe from Mother Thyme for these sandwich cookies. I changed the original recipe only slightly, and I'll explain that a bit more below. The ingredients I used are listed here:

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

-1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

-1 and 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-3/4 tsp. cinnamon

-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

-1 cup light brown sugar

-2 large eggs

-2 Tbsp. maple syrup

For the filling:

-1/4 cup butter

-approx. 1 and 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

-2 Tbsp. maple syrup

-1 to 2 Tbsp. milk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, cream together the brown sugar and butter. Add the eggs, one at a time, then add the maple syrup. Gradually add in the flour mixture.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets, placing about 1.5 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the sides of the cookie just start to lightly brown. Remove from oven, let cool for a minute or two on cookie sheets, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

For the sandwich filling, add the butter to a small saucepan and slowly melt on low heat until the butter becomes an amber-brown color, being careful not to burn it. Set aside to cool.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter, confectioners sugar, cinnamon, and maple syrup on low-medium speed until well-combined. Mix in milk until the filling is creamy. If necessary, add more confectioners sugar, a couple tablespoons at a time, until filling reaches desired consistency.

Match up two cookies that are approximately the same size. On top of one cookie, spread a very generous tablespoon of the filling, and top it with a second cookie.

For me, this recipe made about 24 cookies, which become 12 sandwich cookies. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

The cookies themselves were incredibly soft and chewy, and in my opinion, they were a perfect texture for a whoopie pie/sandwich cookie. I added a little more cinnamon to the cookies than was called for in the original recipe, as I wanted the cinnamon flavor to come through a bit more.

And the filling? Out of this world. Seriously.

A couple quick notes about the filling... The original recipe only called for 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar, and it really wasn't nearly enough, in my opinion. When I only added that much, the filling was more of a glaze/drizzle than a filling/frosting. So in the end, I added approximately 1 and 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar. Feel free to adjust according to your preferences. Also, the original recipe did not call for cinnamon in the filling, but I added some and am so glad I did. The cinnamon paired extremely well with the maple flavor. I think the filling for these sandwich cookies could easily be an amazing frosting for cake or cupcakes too!

We had a few friends over over the course of this past weekend, and every time someone came over, we shared these whoopie pies. Everyone loved them! They're a little bit like a "souped up" version of Little Debbie's oatmeal creme pies. :) 

The next time that I make these, I think I will double the recipe. A dozen of these whoopie pies was not nearly enough! They were gone in no time, and now I'm craving more... 

This post is linked up to Taste and Tell Thursdays! Head on over to check out some other bloggers' fabulous creations. ;)