Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

September 17, 2016

Pumpkins baked into cookies, spiced with autumn’s cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, trigger memories of family, back-to-school and holiday time. Soft and aromatic, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies pack into lunch boxes and cookie jars. Kids will trade them in the school yard. Dogs’ll cry for them too. These Ambassadors of Fall announce the coming of Halloween. Simple to mix, fast in the oven, they’re scary good. Try this recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and leave me a message below.

The original recipe comes from Sally’s Baking Addiction. It is expertly written and comes with many excellent tips. Thank you Sally.

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Ingredients

Makes 30-32 cookies

Volume Grams Ounces

1/2 cup or 1 stick 115 grams 4 ounces unsalted butter
1/4 cup 1.75 ounces 1.75 ounces muscovado sugar or packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup 3.5 ounces 3.5 ounces granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons 3 ounces 3 ounces pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
6 tablespoons 190 grams 6.7 ounces bleached all-purpose flour (see how to weigh and measure)
1/2 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoon 1½ teaspoon 1½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 teaspoon allspice (or 1½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice)
90 grams 3 ounces of your favourite dark chocolate semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

MISE EN PLACE THE COOKIE DOUGH

To see how Mise en Place can benefit you, see The Finer Cookie’s post on why everyone should Mise en Place.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter.
Add brown and white sugar to the melted butter and whisk vigorously to melt the sugar with no lumps.
Whisk in the vanilla and pumpkin puree and set aside to cool.

Adding pumpkin to the butter and sugar mixture.

In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the flour, salt, baking powder , baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

Spices are the heartbeat of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Roughly chop the chocolate if you’re not using chips. If you’re using chocolate chips, measure them into a small bowl and set aside.

Chopped chocolate adds richness to the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

ASSEMBLE THE COOKIE DOUGH

Add the melted butter sugar mixture to the dry ingredients and mix just until the flour particles are moistened.

Add wet to dry ingredients. The proper sequence.

Toss in the chocolate and mix again until evenly distributed. It’s normal for the dough to be sticky at this stage.
Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap and set it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes or overnight. Chilling is mandatory.

BAKING THE COOKIES

Preheat oven to 350F (177C).
Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
I like to measure the dough into 19-21 gram pieces. The result is uniformly sized cookies that bake evenly. Alternately, roll the dough into balls between your palms, about 1 inch each.

The cookie dough rolled, flattened and rough.

Flatten the cookie dough into disks. This cookie recipe doesn’t spread much if at all.
Bake the cookies at 350F for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and under baked. Resist the urge to bake them longer because as they cool, they will firm up, yet remain chewy. Over baking these cookies will make them dry and pasty.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies just out of the oven.

COOL THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Cool the cookies at least 30 minutes before trying them. The texture needs time to settle.

STORING THE COOKIES

Store at room temperature in an air tight container.
Baked cookies freeze well up to three months.
Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well up to three months.
Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw.
NOTE ON FLAVOUR MATURATION: At room temperature, the pumpkin flavour develops overnight and the moisture redistributes. These cookies taste great on baking day, but are even better the next day.