Maple-gingerbread moon pies

Merry Christmas everyone!  Hope you're all enjoying the long weekend so far!  Wanted to share a recipe for some delicious treats I baked yesterday.  They're a softer, more cake-like version of traditional gingerbread cookies, topped with the same maple frosting I used in this post, but with a few minor adjustments.

I was planning to use Martha Stewart's recipe for gingerbread cupcakes, but to my dismay, all 3 grocery stores in my neighborhood were out of molasses, and I was short on time, so I settled for the Betty Crocker boxed mixed.  I was nervous about it at first, since I've been priding myself lately on my graduation from boxed baking, but it was my only option, so I went for it.

I decided to still purchase the ground ginger and ground cloves that Martha's recipe called for, since I noticed Betty's box didn't even list ginger as an ingredient and I figured it would help to make them taste more homemade. I also substituted some buttermilk I had in the fridge (from black and white cookies I baked earlier in the week that I'll be posting about soon!) for the water called for in the recipe, hoping it would make the cookies softer.

The result was surprisingly delicious!  The buttermilk made the consistency much lighter and chewier than traditional gingerbread and the spices really punched up the flavor!  Below are the adapted recipes...

Cookie cakes:
Betty Crocker gingerbread cake & cookie mix (plus ingredients called for on the package directions)
Buttermilk (substituted for water called for in recipe)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:
Mix ingredients together until blended then roll dough into quarter-sized balls and place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet.  Bake for about 6-8 minutes (I did about 6, for max chewiness) and remove from oven.  Let cool before frosting.

Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp gingerbread crumbs (made using Pepperidge Farm Ginger Man cookies)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Mix butter and powdered sugar together until smooth.  Add brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir until blended.  Place 2-3 Ginger Man cookies in a Zip-Lock bag and pound into crumbs.  Add crumbs to the mix, leaving some left over to use as garnish.  Frost cooled cookies and top with remaining crumbs.