Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies With Cream Cheese Filling

From "Tasting Table" blog: Carrot cake conjures memories of sticky fingers and the inevitable hoarding of cream cheese frosting. So when Claire Twesten, the pastry chef of Philadelphia's new Talula's Garden and its parent restaurant, Talula's Table, began thinking about a cookie plate for the restaurant, she harnessed the flavors of a homespun carrot cake. These tender cookies are packed with carrots, raisins and oats and hold a delicious layer of honey-sweetened cream cheese icing. Twesten serves these double-decker treats with three other cookies (chocolate-caramel-sea-salt bars, almond boterkoek and vanilla crescents), but we prefer ours alongside an extra serving of icing. Some things never change.

• Ready In: 6 hrs 25 mins
• Serves: 18-24
• Yields: 24 pies

Ingredients

• Cookies

• 1  cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1  cup light brown sugar
• 1  cup granulated sugar
• 2  eggs
• 3⁄4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2  cups all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1  teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1⁄2 tablespoon crystallized ginger, finely chopped
• 2  cups oats, old-fashioned
• 1 1⁄2 cups carrots, peeled and grated (from about 2 to 3 medium carrots)
• 1  cup raisins, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained

• Cream Cheese Icing

• 1  cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1⁄4 cups powdered sugar
• 2  tablespoons honey
• 12  ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces, softened

Directions

1. Make the cookies: In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together the butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until lightened, about 3 minutes. Slowly add the eggs one at a time, beating the yolk of the first egg until it's incorporated before adding the second egg. Stir in the vanilla.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet, then gently stir in the oats, carrots and raisins. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least six hours or up to overnight.
3. Preheat the oven to 325°. Scoop rounded tablespoons of the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned and set. Remove from the oven and set the cookies aside to cool.
4. Make the icing: In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Slowly beat in the honey and cream cheese until incorporated. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag (or fashion one out of a plastic bag and cut a hole in the corner) and pipe the frosting onto half of the cookies; place the other cookies on top to create sandwiches. Serve immediately or store the cookies and frosting separately for up to 3 days.