Original recipe at: hostthetoast.com

This cookie was eaten on the podcast in episode 047 – Link

 Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 and ¾ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup cinnamon chips

For the creme:

• ½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons apple cider syrup (recipe below)
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
• ¼ cup flour
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar

For the apple cider syrup:

• ⅓ cup apple cider

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together until creamy. Beat in the egg, and then add the vanilla extract, maple syrup, and pumpkin puree. Mix well.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
4. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon until just combined. Fold in the cinnamon chips.
5. Drop 2-tablespoon-sized heaps onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets with plenty of space to spread, and bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges are golden but the cookie is still very, very soft. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to move to a cooling rack. Repeat with as many batches as necessary.
6. As the cookies cook, make the creme.
7. The creme requires apple cider syrup, which is made by simply heating ⅓ cup of apple cider in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil, and then reducing it to a simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the cider has reduced by half and coats the back of a spoon. It will thicken more after it is removed from heat, so don’t overdo it or you will wind up with candy rather than syrup. The cider syrup will stay good in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 1 week.
8. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese until fluffy.
9. Beat in the cider syrup and 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice.
10. Mix in a cup of the confectioner’s sugar. When well-combined, mix in half of the flour. Then, mix in another cup of the confectioner’s sugar. Mix in the remaining flour. Mix in the remaining confectioner’s sugar. (Mixing in a bit at a time this way prevents chunks or unevenness.)
11. Scoop the creme into a plastic freezer bag and cut off one of the bottom tips of the bag. Seal the top of the bag and squeeze the bag to pipe the creme.
12. Pipe a generous amount of frosting on the underside of a cooled cookie and sandwich another cookie on top. Repeat until all of the cookies have been sandwiched.
13. Serve immediately or refrigerate. The cookies will stay fresh for up to a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator.