Pumpkin Creme Pies & A Run

I loved Oatmeal Creme Pies growing up. Like to the point, where if my mom splurged on a box, between the two of us we inhaled them within a couple days. Probably not the best idea in the world, but I can hardly blame Little Debbie for making such delectable treats.

A few days ago I was perusing through websites and stumbled upon Pumpkin Creme Pies. I was intrigued. Could they hold up to the awesomeness of my childhood favorites?

There was only one to find out.

I went to the store to pick up a few of the ingredients I did not have; pumpkin, nutmeg and cloves. Then I came home and realized I did in fact, have full jars of nutmeg and cloves...oops. Guess that meant if the recipe went well, I would be making more.

Followed the recipe pretty much to a "T", but made a few substitutions. Lets face it, with as much sugar going into this thing as there is, it is not going to be the most healthy creation, but I could help it out a touch. Highlighted substitutes in bold.

The Cast:

For the Cookie:

• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 can Pumpkin (15 Oz.)
• 1/2 cup Egg Beaters
  
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3 cups Wheat Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cloves

For the Frosting:

• 1 package Cream Cheese Softened (8 Oz.)
• 1 cup Cocoa Butter, Room Temperature
• 1 package Powdered Sugar (16 Oz.)
• 3 drops Vanilla Extract
• 2 dashes Cinnamon

The Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pumpkin Creme Pies:

Mix the brown sugar, sugar, oil and pumpkin. Add the egg beaters slowly, and continue mixing. Add in the vanilla -- I am still spoiled with the stuff I brought back from the Dominican Republic. I honestly can taste the difference.

In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.

Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredient bowl slowly.

Cut 3 inch squares of parchment paper, the original recipe calls for 24, but because I cut the pastry bag tip a little smaller, I ended up with 30. Using a pastry bag plastic baggie since I don’t have any pastry bags around, cut a hole in the tip, start making a swirl pattern on the pieces of wax paper. Mine were also a little larger then the original recipe, about 3 inches wide.

Put the piped batter circles onto the sheets, and allow them to bake for 12 minutes, you want them firm enough, but overall pretty soft. Pull them off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack or a towel to settle.

Cream Cheese Filling:

Mix together cream cheese and butter. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.

Once the pies are cooled (if they are too warm the frosting will melt off and drip down the sides more than necessary), frost a flat side of one pie, and add another on top to sandwich it off.

I ate a freshly warm Pumpkin Crème Pie and one that had sat in the refrigerator overnight, you know – for testing purposes. Preferred the cooler version, and the pie portion stayed nice and soft.

The Run:

I went out for a nice and easy four mile run before I baked the yummy-to-my-tummy Pumpkin Crème Pies. For some reason during most of the run my body felt out of sorts. I at my usual pre run snack, and had a good breakfast and lunch earlier in the day. I had hypothesis that I wasn’t hydrated enough, or if it might be the lack of sleep the last few days. But I would make the case that it was the Pumpkin Crème Pies fault. The mere thought of them is quite distracting.

To illustrate my point:

The whole time I was out on my run I knew in the back of my mind that the ingredients to this delectable treat were sitting on the counter awaiting my return. My focus was definitely on reviewing the recipe in my head.

A little over the halfway point I started to visualize the completed project. The fall favors of soothing pumpkin and spicy nutmeg. Drool escaped the corner of my mouth. And the frosting, heaven almighty, the frosting! The distraction was overwhelming, as evidence by my running graph.

So, in conclusion, it was definately the pies fault I was sluggish. There really is no other explanation.