I used to try and keep a log of recipes that I made. I know that I had a go-to pumpkin and chocolate chip cookie recipe SOMEWHERE. Although where exactly, I do not know. Was it in a Word document? Can't find it. Was it in a bookmarked tab? Not on this computer. Did I just write it down in a Notes app or on an actual tiny little sticky note?? Maybe! I know that it's somewhere! This is why I created a blog, though. Because, regardless of where I found the recipe or what inspired me to create it on my own, I now have the exact recipe and photos of the process. Now, this might not be the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe that I was looking for? But it's definitely up there in the pantheon of fall favorites.
Pumpkin cookies are always a little bit cakier than something like a sugar cookie. Although I'm pretty fond of soft cookies that are practically muffins! But it is something to note when making these. They essentially act like a leavener as if you've added a massive amount of eggs to a recipe. It's not necessarily more dense. It's more extra springy. Which means that they do last quite a while without drying out, if you want to make them ahead of time.
I also made these cookies in molds. I wasn't entirely sure how they would turn out, but it was festive and looked fun! It also highlighted the kind of muffin-like properties of these cookies. And I have 0 regrets. I made all of the rest of the cookies in the fun fall molds. Although these do absolutely still make delicious cookies if you want to use the drop method.
This isn't sponsored. I don't do sponsored content and have 0 advertisement on this blog. It's entirely for my own indexing of recipes that I actually make, I want to make again, and I hope that someone else will enjoy! So, when I say that these are my absolute favorite chocolate chips and everyone else needs to know about them? I walked a mile and a half to and from a grocery store to find these. They have them at Whole Foods and they have them at Woodman's (which, if you don't live in Wisconsin, will mean absolutely nothing!) And they are absolutely massive.
While we're on it, shout out to the discontinued Le Creuset red spatulas that they should bring back because I spent a small fortune on five of them on eBay. Because bullying companies into making quality products does actually work sometimes!
Variations of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cookies are a great thing to make from scratch for the holidays. They're quick and easy when compared to most other desserts. I mix mine by hand and even then they only take a few minutes to toss together. The most important thing is to just make sure that the butter and sugar are creamed together. Then, to very quickly mix the eggs and dry ingredients.
These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies consist of homemade pumpkin purée, fresh ginger, nutmeg, and chocolate chips for a chewy treat. I made these for halloween in a festive fall cookie mold. Although they also work well as drop cookies!
1c.unsalted butterpreferably unsalted, softened (16 tbsp., 227 g.)
1/2c.sugar(99 g.)
1/2c.brown sugarpacked (106 g.)
2c.pumpkinroasted & puréed (or squash, I used kabocha)
2eggsdivided
1tsp.vanilla extract
2tsp.gingerfresh or ground is fine
2¼c.all-purpose flour(270 g.)
1/2tsp.baking soda
1tsp.baking powder
1/2tsp.salt
1½tsp.nutmeg
2c.chocolate chips(10 oz. package)
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
You can use any number of Roasted Pie Pumpkin, Squash, & Other Gourd. Personally, I used Roasted Kabocha Squash in this recipe because I find most larger squash varieties to be more flavorful and have a brighter hue than typical pie/sugar pumpkins. Although you can use whatever you want! Including pumpkin and squash purée by the can. Roasting them yourself takes a couple of hours and requires aluminum foil, a baking dish, and food processor.
Cookies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and pumpkin purée to a large bowl. Whisk until light and fluffy.There is also no over beating at this point! This is when you want to really go for it. Whisk until as light as possible. You won't be able to get them as fluffy as you would with cookie recipes that don't have peanut butter in them. But airiness during this step is absolutely essential. When you think that you've whisked them enough, whisk a little bit longer!
Add the eggs, one at a time, vanilla extract, and ginger. Mix until just barely incorporated.Do not over beat! It's better to have the egg not incorporated enough than too much. You just don't want the egg to be liquid on top.I also used fresh ginger either minced or grated very finely. Although you can easily substitute powdered. Fresh ginger just has a more robust flavor profile.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together. This is highly recommended because it will help to incorporate more easily into the butter mixture, which is essential to getting the correct consistency of cookies. But I do skip it sometimes if I'm in a hurry! For me at home? I probably won't. When baking for other people? Yeah, I'll go the extra mile! It's not like it's that tedious or time consuming.
Add the flour to the butter mixture and similarly just barely incorporate.This is the exact opposite of the butter mixing process! When you add flour, over mixing will make thee cookies dense and texturally unpleasant. In order to keep the airiness, mix as little as possible to stop seeing white pockets of flour.
Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
Press dough into ungreased cookie mold. Make sure only to fill them about 2/3 of the way and to get dough into all of the crevices in the mold.If you don't have or don't want to use a cookie mold, roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place 1 ½ inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 14-18 minutes, or until golden brown.
Let the cookies sit for a couple of minutes before popping out of the mold. They should come out cleanly and easily.Just don't use anything metal to pop them out because it can damage the finish and make them stick in the future! It's best to replace scratched or damaged cookie molds. This can leach Teflon and other non-stick coating into the food.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
For more information on the Fundamentals of Baking Cookies, check out my article on the matter. For instance, I recommend making cookies by hand with a fork and adding slightly less flour than called for.
As a general rule, I don't like to edit images. Food styling, editing, alteration, and even faking entirely is just as rampant a problem in the recipe realm. Cooking is a very visual art and you can tell when a lot of foods are cooked based on the color. So, when this is altered and you can't use the coloration as a gauge, it makes it quite difficult to follow some recipes. I have an entire article about Food Styling and Unrealistic Expectations of Recipes. My place has very warm lighting, though. So, sometimes my camera overcompensates and ends up with an unnatural hues. I've adjusted the hues, levels, and/or cropped the following images:
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