Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I feel like a stranger here, it's been so long since I've been able to post! Hubby has been enjoying doing most of the cooking lately while I get our little one ready for bed, and I am not allowed to use any of his dishes for blog posts (because they are 'not good enough' despite my enthusiastic enjoyment and praise, though I secretly believe he just doesn't remember everything he puts in them...) so even after returning from vacation and getting used to the additional mobility of our son, I just haven't had the material for new posts. Well, now I've finally taken advantage of a longer afternoon nap and whipped up a batch of cookies to satisfy both my baking withdrawal and my need to blog!

I use my mom's recipe for these pumpkin cookies, with just a few tweaks - I've decreased the sugar and oil in them as well as switched out the all-purpose flour for white whole wheat. The result - a healthier cookie with the taste and texture so similar to the original you wouldn't know if I didn't tell you; in fact I shared these with our neighbors and neither they nor my husband could tell, even after I told them. 

Start by whisking together the pumpkin, sugar, egg, and oil in a large bowl. Stir together the baking soda and (rice)milk in a small dish and whisk that in as well. In a separate bowl, sift together your flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. You can use either fresh roasted and pureed pumpkin or canned pumpkin, I've done both and the cookies turn out very similar either way, so I prefer to save my fresh pumpkin for pie because I really do notice a difference there. Now I can't wait for pumpkin season....

Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture in a few batches so it is easier to incorporate. Use a spatula for this process, a whisk will quickly become a hindrance (I absentmindedly attempted this with a whisk once, and quickly realized my mistake...)

Then stir in your vanilla extract and chocolate chips. I love mini chips - especially since I make little bite-size cookies, but you can use your favorite chips. I bet these would be good with cinnamon chips too if anyone either doesn't like or can't eat chocolate... or wants to combine the two... Please let me know how it turns out if you try it!

Preheat your oven to 375* and drop dough by cookie-scoop or spoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving space between cookies for growth during baking. Don't bother getting out a ruler to place them, just leave about as much space as the height of your scoops - this is a fairly thick cookie dough, so they are very unlikely to spread enough to connect unless you place them practically touching.

Bake cookies for 8-15 minutes, depending on size. A toothpick inserted into the center of one should come out clean. As I mentioned, I like to make little bite-size cookies with my smallest cookie scoop, so they cook in 8 minutes; the larger the cookie, the longer the baking time. You can see that they puff and spread a little during baking, but they hold very much of the shape in which they are dropped. Transfer to a rack to cool.

This recipe also works well as a cake - the whole batch will make one 9x13 cake (bake for 20-30 minutes) or you can make mini cakes or even muffins which will take about 15-20 minutes. I used the last of the dough for one mini heart cake so I wouldn't have a partially filled cookie sheet.

And here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 15-oz can pumpkin (or 2 cups fresh)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups oil

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp (rice)milk

4 cups flour (all-purpose or white whole wheat, or a combination)

4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

10-12 oz chocolate chips

Whisk together pumpkin, sugar, egg, and oil in a large bowl. Stir together baking soda and (rice)milk in a small dish and whisk that in as well. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture in a few batches, then stir in vanilla extract and chocolate chips. 

Preheat oven to 375* and drop dough by cookie-scoop or spoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving space between cookies for growth during baking. Bake for 8-15 minutes, depending on cookie size. Alternately, bake a 9x13 cake for 20-30 minutes or mini cakes or muffins for 15-20 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie/cake/muffin should come out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool. 

Enjoy!                                            

Sue