By: Eric de Guzman
Fall has cometh yet again, and as the days get colder, one may long for a warm treat to caress the mouth. One such snack is the chocolate chip cookie, but with the advent of autumn, it would be fitting to spice up the conventional recipe with seasonal flavors. Thus we have the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie, which combines the homeliness of both a pumpkin pie and a chocolate chip cookie to create a delight to the senses. Adapted from an online recipe, among the changes made to the original was the addition of browned butter, which appends a nutty complement to the dough, and the omission of cloves, because I couldn’t find any in the kitchen. Make these cookies that are sure to be welcome in friends, family, and in your digestive system, and remember that adding pumpkin spice to anything makes it a fall recipe. Recipe makes about 18 cookies.
Ingredients:
-1/4 cup (1 stick or 115g) unsalted butter, melted & slightly cooled
-1/4 cup browned butter
-1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
-1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-6 Tablespoons (86g) pumpkin puree
-1 and 1/2 cups (190g) 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 allspice
-1/2 cup (90g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Browning the butter: cook down butter in a saucepan until a nutty aroma exudes. Pour into bowl and cool.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted and browned butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla and pumpkin until smooth.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Mix the wet and dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. Fold in 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes, or up to 3 days.
4. Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
5. Roll the dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each. Slightly flatten the dough balls because the cookies will only slightly spread in the oven. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and undercooked. Remove from the oven.
6. Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack.
7. Serve and enjoy!
