Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

12 Days of Cookies: Day 3

There’s just something so insanely good about pumpkin and chocolate. My sister makes the best pumpkin bread and when she adds chocolate chips to it – it’s like a small slice of paradise. These sweet treats have such an array of different flavors; the different spices and chocolate gives these incredible depth. Trust me, these are not your regular chocolate chip cookies.

I used homemade pumpkin purée in my recipe and the batch I most recently made was very light in color. If you choose to use store bought pumpkin purée the dough will have a darker orange color. Pumpkin purée has an impressive amount of essential vitamins and nutrients and is low in calories. Pumpkin purée is a healthy ingredient I love to add into my fall recipes (though these cookies are not necessarily healthy).

I chose to use shortening in these cookies; you can substitute butter to help deepen the flavor. The shortening has a higher melting point and when it does melt it creates steam pockets to help the cookies rise. Because of the spices and chocolate in these cookies I wanted to get the rise out of them more than I wanted the richer flavor butter can add.

Why should you let your cookie dough chill? It helps to solidify the fat. The longer the fat has an opportunity to solidify the less your cookies will spread during the baking process. The other reason to let it chill is so that the dough has an opportunity to absorb all the liquid before the baking process starts. This helps in giving the cookies a softer and airier texture.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of shortening (or 1 cup of butter – softened)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
• 1 t salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips (you can use regular sized – I prefer the mini ones)

Method:

1. Mix together shortening, sugar, eggs, pumpkin and vanilla extract until smooth.
2. Sift together flour, pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking soda and baking powder into a separate bowl.
3. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet mixture scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently.
4. Gently mix in chocolate chips.
5. Chill for at least two hours or overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line cookie sheets with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
7. Drop cookie dough onto cookie sheets in two inch balls approximately three inches apart.
8. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until brown around the edges and lightly brown on top.
9. Let cookies sit on baking sheet for about five minutes before transferring to cooling racks.
10. Store in an airtight container for up to one week or place in the freezer.

This recipe yields between 4-5 dozen depending upon size.