I often try a few recipes at a time.  It’s like hosting my own personal recipe contest.

It’s just for my own purposes.  And I know it’s not normal.  But I always wonder if there could be a better recipe out there, and I think side by side taste testing is the best way to pick a favorite recipe. Sometimes the results are clear cut, and sometimes they are all good and comes down to personal taste. Sometimes I don’t love any of them and I try a new set of recipes.  I’m not saying my final opinion is anything more than an opinion.  It’s just how I roll and and how a recipe becomes my gold standard.  Until I decide to challenge it, that is!

But I don’t just decide on my taste buds alone.  I drag my neighbors and available friends into taste testing and offering their votes.  Often when I blog, I just share the final result, my favorite.  But I thought it would be fun to let you guys in on my results and conclusions.  

So this time I was on a quest to find the best pumpkin whoopie pie recipe…

The cookies were all very different, but all very good.  

I’m just as obsessed with getting the packaging right as I am with getting the recipe right.  I can’t tell you how many hours I surfed the web/shopped in pursuit of baked goods packaging.  But sometimes the perfect packaging isn’t a traditional cake box.  

For the whoopie pies, I ended up using floral/corsage boxes.  I bought them at my local floral supply store and they were reasonably priced.  I protected the food with a cupcake wrapper and lined the box with filler to stabilize them a little.

It was the perfect little nest for these darling cookie sandwiches.  

Then I added some fall flavor with a burlap wrap, some pretty preserved leaves and satin ribbon.  

Beautiful packaging can turn a simple gift into a thoughtful gesture.  Just my humble opinion.

It also makes delivering sweet gifts a breeze.  

I loved using the bigger floral boxes for a more substantial gift.  The long, narrow shape is a bit unexpected and fit 16 whoopie pies perfectly.  

I’m sure that these could be put in a cake box, but I do enjoy the clear packaging, so that people can get excited about their treat before they even open the box!  

I hope this wasn’t TMI as I walked you through my entire thought process while making these treats. But alas, I think this “quest for the best” was successful.  

p.s. Happy Thanksgiving!  My sweet blog readers are among the blessings I’m thankful for!