Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year. I love it because fall is gorgeous around Minnesota. The variety of trees we have here makes fall colors absolutely stunning on drives just about anywhere – especially in northern Minnesota near Duluth. Not only is fall beautiful, it also means pumpkins are a plenty, they are hanging out on front porches; carved and decorated for Halloween, pumpkin seeds are roasting in the oven and pumpkin-flavored warm drinks are available at just about any coffee shop. One day I decided I didn’t want to wait for fall to enjoy pumpkin-inspired food, I would have it all year if I wanted to. So, I Googled recipes and got creative in my kitchen. One of my favorite cookie recipes – that I find especially delicious (and I think my friends and coworkers can attest to this) is my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Since I posted a food photo on Facbeook, and people wanted this recipe, I’m more than happy to share it with our readers. If you try this recipe, please let us know how it turns out! We’re always happy to read through your on-the-road recipes so if you would like to share, send an email to [email protected] or post a comment below.
Delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
Ingredients
1 can of canned pumpkin puree (I use Libby’s brand)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (I skip this in all of my recipes, but feel free to add it in yours!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon ginger (my special ingredient)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (my special ingredient)
*optional* 1/2 cup walnuts
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, white sugar, vegetable oil and egg. Use a hand mixer to blend ingredients together completely. Start adding flour while mixing to get an even mix throughout, add baking powder, cinnamon, salt (if you decided to use it) and baking soda as you continue to blend ingredients on a low mixer setting. Add vanilla extract, ginger and nutmeg (if you went with my suggestion – and you should!), until fully blended. Next, add chocolate chips and walnuts (if you decided to use them).
Scoop mixture in small clumps onto a cookie sheet (I always grease mine but it depends on your type of cookie sheet). Using pumpkin puree means your cookies will be cake-like or softer than average cookies, like plain chocolate chip, are. In other words, your cookies will flatten out and spread as they get warm so it’s very important to keep them in the oven for enough time or they will be too soft and undercooked. I baked mine for 12 minutes, but this may vary depending on how well your oven operates. Test cookies by using a toothpick to check if they are fully baked. Cookies should be baked enough to remove from the pan with a spatula without breaking.
Let cool and enjoy! Recipe makes about 28 small/medium-size cookies.
