Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

I have to admit that I am a bit of a late comer to pumpkin cookies.  In fact I hadn’t even tasted so much as a morsel of a pumpkin cookie until 11 years ago.  I still remember the occasion; my youngest son was graduating from preschool in full black garbage bag regalia.  I know, I am still trying to consider the wisdom of having a group of preschoolers working with plastic that will eventually be draped over their heads.  Gasp… shudder.  At any rate he marched proudly in his black garbage bag cap and gown across the deck and down the stairs while Pomp and Circumstance played on the small boom box plugged in near the base of the wooden stairs.  He looked adorable.  I was hungry.  There were pumpkin cookies.  I scoffed at first and considered staying hungry (pumpkin is not usually a favorite) but eventually the hunger pains won out and I tried one.  Eureka!  I tried two and then three and then I sent my little garbage bag graduate to get one for the road.  What had I been missing all these years?   The long and short of is that I couldn’t get enough these new found treats and it was spring as in… it wasn’t even fall!  To date I have not met a pumpkin cookies I didn’t like but making them from scratch is my favorite and I have never found the need to discriminate the season.  They are equally delicious spring, summer, winter or fall.

One note; don’t get pumpkin pie filling when the recipe asks for pumpkin.Get 100% pumpkin. Or better yet–when you are feeling all domestic prepare your own pumpkin. Let’s make some cookies!  This batch makes about 3 dozen medium size cookies. Gather the following ingredients: butter, brown sugar, white sugar, pumpkin, egg, vanilla, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.

 

Preheat your oven to 375° Combine 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl and whisk together.

In a separate bowl, or in the bowl of your stand mixer, combine 1 cup butter at room temperature (this recipe works well with 1/2 cup margarine and 1/2 cup butter for those of us on a budget), 2/3 cup brown packed brown sugar and 1/3 cup white sugar (aka granulated sugar) .

Beat together and then scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add 1 cup pumpkin**, one egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and beat together.

Scrape down the bowl again and then add the dry ingredients, beating together until thoroughly combined.

Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips ( I like milk chocolate) and drop the dough onto a prepared baking sheet.  I like using a large cookie scoop for this because the cookies stay nicely uniform.

 

Bake on the middle oven rack in your preheated oven until your cookies edges are lightly browned.  As you are checking on your cookies you will notice the color denseness disappear as the cookies bake.  Watch for the denseness in the center to close in, but don’t over bake the cookies.  Plan on about 12 minutes depending on your oven and the size of your cookies.  I usually do  a test run on a couple of cookies to make sure that when they bake I like the way they look when they are done.  I like this cookie to be a bit “puffy” so if I need to add a bit more flour to the dough, I do.

Remove them from the oven and cool the cookies on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to completely cool.

**Any pumpkin not used should be removed from the can and refrigerated or frozen.  If I put mine in the refrigerator I like to use it within 5 days max.  If I don’t think I will bake pumpkiny things within that time frame I put it in a freezer bag ( because I can get most of the air out) and pop it in the freezer, labeled.  I like to use my frozen pumpkin within 6 months.

By now the cookies should be cooled…eat up!  No garbage bag required.