White Chili and Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I don't post recipes very often, but I'm hoping that it will remind me to actually make these wonderful foods again! What I love about chili is that you can't mess it up, especially white chili. I am not a huge fan of spicy food, so it's always hard for me to make regular chili - I never know what level of seasoning will taste good to other people. With white chili, I just throw in a bunch of food and let it simmer. Yummm!

White Chili Recipe

• 
  
  2 tablespoons olive oil


• 
  
  2 onions, chopped


• 
  
  2 cloves garlic, minced


• 
  
  1 tablespoon chives


• 
  
  2 cans corn [I used a Southwestern mix that included black beans.]


• 
  
  4 cooked, boneless chicken breast half, chopped


• 
  
  2 cans chicken broth [I used 1 regular box of Swanson's Chicken Broth]


• 
  
  5 cans Great Northern beans


• 
  
  2 cans large Butter beans

1. Cook the chicken. We bought thighs instead of chicken breasts, because they were on sale and the meat came out so tender! Also, Steve grilled it for me instead of boiling it; this added an amazing smoky flavor to the entire dish.

2. Once the chicken was cooked, I literally just poured everything into a pot, added a lid, turned the heat as low as possible, and let it simmer all day (12 PM - 5 PM). I stirred it about 3 or 4 times throughout the day. So easy!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

• 2 cups packed brown sugar


• 1 cup vegetable oil


• 1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree


• 2 eggs


• 3 cups all-purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon


• 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger


• 1/2 tablespoon ground cloves


• 1 egg white


• 2 tablespoons milk


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 cups confectioners' sugar


• 3/4 cup shortening


• 1 pkg. of cream cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
2. Combine the oil and brown sugar. Mix in the pumpkin and eggs, beating well. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix well.
3. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool then make sandwiches from two cookies filled with Whoopie Pie Filling.
4. To Make Whoopie Pie Filling: Beat egg white and mix with the milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar. Mix well then beat in the shortening and the remaining cup of confectioners' sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. [The only thing Mel changed was to add the pkg. of cream cheese. It made the mixture a little less fluffy, but really enhanced the taste!