October's Cookie of the Month: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

My independent taste tester loves pumpkin baked goods, especially with chocolate chips, so this wasn't exactly what you'd call a tough sell. He loved them, especially their cakeyness. I, on the other hand, am not a big fan of pumpkin baked goods, chocolate chips or no. But I found the pumpkin to be quite subtle in these cookies, much like the banana in April's Cookie of the Month: Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies. These taste even better the next day. My second batch spent a few too many minutes in the oven, and they were still super soft and yummy the next day.



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies adapted from The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book: From Chocolate Melties to Whoopie Pies, Chocolate Biscotti to Black and Whites, with Dozens of Chocolate Chip Cookies and Hundreds More by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

Ingredients

• 2 C plus 2 T all-purpose flour
  
• 1 t baking soda
  
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
  
• 1/2 t grated nutmeg
  
• 1/2 t salt
  
• 8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, cool, cut into small pieces
  
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
  
• 1 C packed brown sugar
  
• 1 large egg, room temperature
  
• 1 large egg white, room temperature
  
• 1/2 C solid-packed canned pumpkin (do not use canned pumpkin pie filling)
  
• 2 t vanilla extract
  
• 3 C Ghiradelli 60% Cacao chips
  

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into a medium bowl.

2. Soften the butter in a large bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, about 1 minute. Add both kinds of sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light and airy, but still somewhat grainy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, beat in the egg, then the egg white, then the canned pumpkin, and finally the vanilla. Don't worry if the dough looks slightly curdled at this point.

3. Add the prepared flour mixture and beat at low speed just until soft and light, like traditional chocolate chip cookie dough, not sticky. Stir in the chocolate chips, just until evenly distributed.

4. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto two large baking sheets lined with silicone mats, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the baking sheets top to bottom and back to front. Bake for another 8 minutes, or until lightly browned and somewhat springy to the touch. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cool the baking sheets for 5 minutes before baking further batches.

Previous Cookies of the Month:
January's Cookie of the Month: Soft Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
February's Cookie of the Month: Chocolate Cream Sandwich Cookies
March's Cookie of the Month: Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
April's Cookie of the Month: Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
May's Cookie of the Month: Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies
June's Cookie of the Month: Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies
July's Cookie of the Month: Big Soft Chocolate Cookies
August's Cookie of the Month: Viennese Chocolate Pepper Cookies
September's Cookie of the Month: Potato Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies

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