Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Cream Cheese Filling Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1/2 cup mashed or canned pumpkin

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, gradually adding the sugars. Beat in the egg and yolk, pumpkin, and vanilla. Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices into a separate bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, a third at a time, until evenly mixed. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly butter two large baking sheets or line them with parchment paper. With lightly floured hands, roll the dough into 1 1/2 -inch-diameter balls and place them on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches in between. Bake one sheet at a time on the center oven rack for 16 to 17 minutes. When done, the tops will be dome-shape and yield slightly to light finger pressure. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Makes about 30 cookies.

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon lemon extract

Using an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese, gradually beating in the sugar. Add the vanilla and lemon extracts. Beat until smooth. Refrigerate until needed. When the cookies have cooled completely, spread the flat side with some of the filling and press the flat side of a second cookie onto the filling to make a sandwich.

The Everyday Baking Cookbook features 118 original recipes by celebrated baker and longtime Almanac collaborator Ken Haedrich. A winner of the Julia Child Cookbook Award, Haedrich may be best known as the author of Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie, which was recently named one of the best baking books of the past 25 years by Cooking Light magazine.