Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft, thick and chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies deliver big on pumpkin flavor without being cakey, and are a perfect fall treat!
Pumpkin. I promised that I would be posting pumpkin recipes at some point, and the time has finally come. Are you excited? I know that some people have been posting pumpkin since August, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. It was just too soon to say goodbye to summer. Now I am finally embracing the fall though; I have my boots in the closet and my jackets from home. And these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in a jar :)
Pumpkin cookies, I was learning, are apparently a bit of a tough cookie to crack (crumble?). You need enough pumpkin in the dough to taste it, but then you can’t have too much because of its high moisture content. Lots of moisture = may need lots of dry ingredients = cakey cookies. Which are not what we are going for. And although chocolate is amazing (hello Candy Corn Brownies!), if there are too many chocolate chips it can overpower the pumpkin flavor, which is not what we want either.
The first batch I made ran into these issues. They were so close to being where I wanted them, and although my friends had all approved, I knew they could be better. To solve the issues, I just changed a few things around. The butter got melted to provide extra chewiness to the cookies and help them spread a tad more, and I reduced the number of chocolate chips.
You can still taste all of the chocolate, but now pumpkin’s flavor comes out too, and is not lost in the chocolate. For this recipe, 3/4 cup of chocolate chips will satisfy your chocolate needs, and you can always add more on top after baking for decoration or extra chocolate if you want.
You are receiving the tested and improved recipe that made everyone agree these cookies are amazing, even the people who are not fans of pumpkin! One of my roommates has declared these her new favorite cookie, and said that the texture is absolutely perfect. Look at them: soft, thick and chewy cookies that taste like delicious autumn in your hand. And there is no mixer required, or needed. Everything comes together so easily that you can whip up the dough in less than 20 minutes.
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As someone constantly juggling classes, homework, community service, meetings and more, this is the kind of dough I like. Once you make the dough you do need to refrigerate it to firm it up for rolling. It makes it ten million times easier and less messy; I found that putting the dough back in the fridge once I was done getting enough for the tray was helpful because otherwise it got too warm and stuck to my hands, making me look like I had just been pumpkin carving!
That reminds me! Have you started decorating for Halloween yet? I had a whole bag of goodies to decorate the apartment with, and my roommates and I waited until after the first full week of October {unlike any and all stores that have been selling candy since August…} so it really finally feels like this month can be full of fall festive fun! While you get ready for Halloween and are in the midst of fall baking, be sure to give these cookies a try- you won’t be disappointed!
Question: What is your favorite pumpkin treat? Do you wait until October to make it? Let me know below!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2) sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie pudding mix
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Posted on 10/13/14 by Kiley
Try some of our other yummy treats!
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease (or line with aluminum foil and then grease) an 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, canola oil, white sugar and vanilla extract. Mix these four ingredients together until combined.
Add in the flour, salt and cocoa powder and mix everything together until the batter is smooth and there are no large lumps.
Stir in the M&M’s to evenly distribute them throughout the batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, and bake 25-32 minutes for an 8x8 pan or 22-28 minutes for a 9x9 pan. Brownies are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only 1 or 2 crumbs and the top of the brownie is lightly firm.
*This recipe is a Rooks to Cooks original. The photographs are copyright Rooks to Cooks and may not be used without permission.