Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every fall is the same.  We start spending more time indoors and I begin to notice all of the mini house projects that we have been putting off during the fun summer months... My closets should be cleaned out, the basement needs to be organized, our baseboards need a good scrubbing/painting, and let's not even get into the ridiculous leaf situation going on in our backyard.  Despite my mountain of a "to-do" list, all I want to do (during the girls' nap time)  is drink tea and bake, which is exactly what I have been doing.

Still on my pumpkin kick, I made these cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction and they were delicious. I am a sucker for the pumpkin/chocolate combo, and if you haven't tried it, this is the perfect way to jump start your addiction. 

Notes: I doubled the amount of chocolate chips and I used 1 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice instead of nutmeg, cloves and allspice. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies  - Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:
makes 12-16 cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla and pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft. Fold in 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to have them evenly dispersed among the dough. Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes, or up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Roll the dough into balls, about 2 Tablespoons of dough each. Slightly flatten the dough balls because the cookies will only slightly spread in the oven. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and underbaked. Keeping them in the oven for longer may dry them out. Remove from the oven and press a few more chocolate chips onto the tops, if desired. If you find that your cookies didn't spread much at all, flatten them out when you take them out of the oven.

Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack. The longer the cookies cool, the chewier they will be. I let them sit out for at least 1 hour before enjoying. I find that their chewiness and pumpkin flavor is more prominent on day 2. Cookies stay soft, moist, and chewy stored at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Freezing directions: Roll the chilled dough into balls and freeze in a large ziplock bag for up to 2 months. Baked cookies may also be frozen up to 2 months.