Cookies!

Today is my day off with absolutely nowhere to be. What does that mean? Laundry and cooking. This week cooking is actually baking. I've been in a baking mood for the last week or so and I've been craving something pumpkin for a while. Killing two birds with one stone here, I am making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

This is the first recipe in a while I've actually followed the instructions exactly (well...nearly). I am unfamiliar with using pumpkin puree and so only used what was called for. Except ground cloves. Ground cloves are expensive so I used allspice instead. The only other difference in the recipe is that I chilled it for an hour before baking. Cold dough tends not to spread as much and you get thick and chewy cookies. Oh, and I used dark chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate. Love me some dark chocolate.

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Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (I used allspice because cloves are expensive)
2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet (I used dark chocolate)
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

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Batter finished and going in the fridge to chill. Side note: if the finished product is anywhere as delicious as this batter, I will be a very happy baker. (No, I won't die happy. Dying would mean I don't get to make Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies.)

Ready to go in the oven! Josie (my landlady/housemate) happens to have a 2 tsp scoop that works wonderfully for scooping cookie dough.



First batch done! Might have to eat one... you know, for quality testing...oh goodness...have...to...have...self control. Soft and warm, they remind me of pumpkin bread with chocolate chips. I suppose that's what these are, really, but I have to resist eating them all. I promised I would share.

     


All finished and neatly stacked on a plate. Two dozen have been set aside to share. One for knitting tomorrow morning and the other for work on Wednesday.

Also portioned out a bunch and stuck them in the freezer so I can have cookies whenever I want. Even after (maybe especially after) a long day at work.

Also seen are two tubs of Chicken Enchilada Soup
and a bag of Spinach Lasagna Rolls.