I have fond childhood memories of baking chocolate chip cookies with my my mom and sister. When my sister and I saw our mom’s circa 1972 split pea green KitchenAid Stand Mixer come out, we knew we were in for a treat.
The process of helping my mom in the kitchen and being her little helper was almost as good as the cookies we’d bake together.
My dad always knew if my sister and I had been in the kitchen that day helping out as evidenced by the eggshells in his cookies, which we’d proudly present to him and that he’d never turn down. They simply added a delicious crunch.
As a helper, I learned early on not to crank the mixer to high speed immediately after adding the flour. A good way to make my mom mad was to spray her kitchen with flour.
The best part of cookie making came when adding the chocolate chips to the dough.
I’d always sneak a handful of chocolate chips that were supposed to make it into the cookie dough, but made it into my mouth instead.
With this cookie recipe, I wanted to embrace the classic chocolate chip cookie I grew up eating, but also incorporate everyone’s favorite fall ingredient: pumpkin.
Plenty of recipes exist for soft, cake-like, pumpkin whoopie pie cookies, but I wanted these cookies to have the traditional chewiness of a true chocolate chip cookie, but infused with pumpkin.
After testing and experimenting with so many recipes and creating everything from cakey, soft, pumpkin mounds to pumpkin-laced hockey pucks, I finally found the texture and flavor I was in search of with this recipe.
The resulting cookies are soft, tender, light and have just a touch of cakiness, but they are also chewy with some heartiness. Soft pumpkin cookie meets chewy chocolate chip cookie. The edges crisp up and the centers remain pillowy soft.
They’re packed with the warming flavors of fall, including cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, and a dash of molasses.
The chocolate chips pair nicely with the pumpkin and the flavors complement each other so well. Then again, chocolate pairs so well with most anything for me.
A few cook’s notes:
The dough is soft and a bit tacky to work with, courtesy of the pumpkin puree. Pumpkin does a beautiful job of tenderizing baked goods, but it makes the dough a bit sticky. Counteract the stickiness by chilling the dough before scooping it into balls. In my trials, I chilled the dough ranging from 90 minutes to 4 days. The longer the dough is chilled, the easier it is to work with.
Prior to baking, rolling a ball of dough through a cinnamon-sugar mixture not only creates a extra bonus of texture and flavor in the finished cookies, but it does double-duty by taking the edge off some of the dough’s stickiness.
I found the best cookies result from using 1 1/2 tablespoons of well-chilled dough, scooped using a cookie scoop, dredged through cinnamon-sugar, and flattened slightly before baking.
The cookies spread very little while baking and I recommend flattening the dough mounds slightly before baking otherwise the base will cook through and become too well done before the top sets.
The cookies keep beautifully, and paradoxically, get softer over time. The brown sugar and molasses attract moisture from the air so there’s little worry of them drying out.
Then again, I don’t think you’ll have too many extra cookies just lingering around.
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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen medium-sized cookies
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 tablespoon unsulphered molasses (I use Grandma’s Original)
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground ginger, salt – all optional and to taste
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups Nestle Tollhouse Semi-Sweet Morsels
Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture, for rolling
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and beat on medium-high to high speed for 3 to 4 minutes to cream ingredients; stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg, vanilla, and beat on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin, unsulphered molasses (blackstrap molasses may be substituted but it’s bolder and more intense), 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, optional spices, salt, and mix until incorporated, about 1 minute. (All spices should be added to taste and use more or less, depending on how robustly-flavored you prefer your cookies. As written, the spices are nicely balanced and the cookies are of average intensity. Adding ginger, additional cinnamon or cloves, will give them a stronger punch and kick, rendering them more like a pumpkin-ginger-spice cookie)
Add the flour, baking soda, and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand. Dough will be thick and dense yet soft, and must be refrigerated and chilled before it’s suitable for scooping out and baking off. Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap or transfer dough into an airtight container and refrigerate dough for at least 90 minutes, overnight, or up to four days.
Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare baking sheets by lining them with Silpat liners, parchment paper, or spray them with cooking spray; set aside. Make the Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture by combining 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl and stir to combine; set aside.
Form 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls of dough using a cookie scoop and dredge each ball through the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place balls on baking sheets; cookies spread very little and can be spaced about 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Flatten balls slightly before baking to ensure cookies cook through evenly. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until the edges near the bases of the cookies are golden and set, and tops have just set; cookies will continue to firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for at least 10 minutes before moving them. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Cookies can be kept vegan by using vegan margarine such as Earth Balance and replacing the egg with a flax egg. Cookies can be made gluten-free by using a gluten-free flour blend such as Bob’s Red Mill.
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And now, onto the Giveaway portion of this post. You can enter to win:
a $200 gift card from Williams-Sonoma
and a KitchenAid Stand Mixer
Yes, one lucky person will win both.
The mixer is from the KitchenAid Custom Metallic® Series | Tilt-Head Stand Mixer | Flour Power™ Rating – 9 Cup
It’s a 5-Quart size with a 10-speed Solid State Control
It comes with a flat beater, wire whip, and dough hook
It retails for $649.95
I’m sure I don’t need to sell you on the benefits, workmanship, and high quality nature of a KitchenAid Stand Mixer or twist your arm to pick out $200 worth of items from Williams-Sonoma.
Although Tweets, Facebook mentions, or Pinterest Pins about this post are appreciated, they are not required for entry.
Simply answer the following question by leaving a comment below to enter the giveaway:
Please share a favorite baking memory. (Please be detailed and specific)
Contest ends Monday, October 8, 2012 and winner will be chosen randomly. Open to continental U.S. residents only. Complete contest rules can be found at the bottom of this page.
This post is sponsored by Nestlé® Toll House® Morsels, the perfect special ingredient for all of your family’s favorite treats!
While growing up my mom had a tradition – when it rained she always made cookies. While most kids were upset about having “indoor recess”, I could hardly wait to come home to lingering scents of fresh baked cookies and a plate waiting just for us! My mom is no longer able to make cookies as often, so now when it rains, I always make cookies for her. Mom baked with love, and she passed that on to me. It was a big deal when mom got her Kitchen Aid mixer. Someday that mixer will be handed down to me, and I will bake with love…just like mom!
When I was younger, my mom never baked. However, my godmother did and it was always so fun to be in the kitchen while she did. The item that we loved making the most was chinese pineapple cakes. It’s a bit intense for a non-baker like myself, but with her by my side, it was possible. She had the most delicious recipe too, I think it’s because she made it with love. I tried making it myself last year, but it just didn’t taste the same!
My baking memory is of baking batches of brownies with my mother.
My goodness ! Can you believe how beautiful the hand painted KitchenAid is? I would be afraid to wash it fearing the paint would wash off (how do you care for it? ) I bet if I win the KitchenAid mixer and get it painted I would have many stories of my baking adventures and many people asking who painted my KitchenAid.
My mom always loved to bake on a whim, so my most exciting baking memories are of my mom popping into my bedroom when I was young to announce we were making cookies. I’d “help” as much as possible while sneaking dough. It wasn’t until I learned how to bake correctly that I learned that eating parts of the dough (like butter and sugar whipped together) before it was all combined totally threw off the recipe!
My husband make the choclate chip cookies in our family
I used to love cooking with my mom and eating the raw cookie dough when she wasn’t looking :)
My favorite baking moment… When my boy was barely 2 and will sit on the counter while we bake cookies… from frozen dough! He will everyone who will listen that his mom is the best baker ever. He knows the difference now that he is 8 but his little sister is now my helper as I move into making cakepops. Will still do frozen doughs and they still think I am the best in the kitchen.
my fave baking memories centered around winter. We lived “in town” so during the snowy times, we usually had other family members staying over so they could get to their jobs (think tiny, rural town in the midwest). My Aunt, a very accomplished baker, was usually one of the guests. She taught me nearly everything I know about baking. We always tried out new recipes and I learned a lot! The rest of the family was happy to have all these treats to eat as well! LOL
I have such fond memories of baking Christmas cookies with my mother when I was small. That’s how I developed a love of the kitchen, and got started on the path to doing what I do now!
My favorite Christmas cookies were always the Russian Tea Cakes. It was magical to experience the whole process. We’d mix the dough, then chill it. We’d form little balls and bake them, then toss them in powdered sugar while still warm. The thing that took them from good to amazing, though, was their second coating in powdered sugar once they had cooled.
Maybe the best thing was that because they were so delicate when warm, a few would break. I’d get to eat the broken ones!
I’ve seen similar recipes with different names – Russian Tea Cakes are just about the same as Mexican Wedding cookies. Simple balls of walnuts, flour, and butter, rolled in powdered sugar. Yum!
My favorite baking memory is making mincemeat pie with my grandmother. She made them for every Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I was always so excited when I got to help her. I still use her lattice special top crust design when I make double crust pies!
Mixing and baking pumpkins, apples and lemons. I have never tried all three together.
Maybe I’ll try mixing and baking them when I get my new SUPER KITCHENAID.
Please let me give you my address, so that you can send it.
Pumpkins, apples or lemons! I love to bake with all of the, but I have never tried the three together.
Maybe I’ll try that when I get my new, SUPER KITCHENAID.
Please give me that opportunity.
I love pumpkin desserts! I am itching to start baking this fall! :) My favorite memories is spending time with my grandma baking cookies. She taught me so much. She also taught me how to bake pies, bread, etc. My grandfather especially loved eating the cookies after I and Grandma finished baking them. Every time I went over to their house to visit, we’d bake cookies or Grandma would pull out cookies she had frozen from our baking session, pour me a glass of milk and coffee for the adults and we’d just sit around the kitchen table. Now when I bake cookies with my kids or I have warm cookies ready (I make a huge batch of cookie dough, roll them in balls then freeze so I pop a couple in the oven right before they get off the bus) and I’d make myself green tea or coffee, sit at the table with the kids and my boyfriend and chat. These moments makes me feel very close to my grandparents. My grandma is more traditional. My mother is complete opposite and adventurous. She’d make a huge variety of food but my favorite memory is making baklavas with Mom. Now that was an interesting project but I LOVE baklava and I am proud to say that I KNOW how to make baklava. I think I’ll make a batch this fall. ;)
I have so many baking memories with my Nanny. But the one I remember the most was a project I had in elementary school. We were learning about yeast and how different ingredients responded in a recipe. We had to make something that used yeast and bring it to school and give a report. Which today, I’m sure would never happen, because of food guidelines and health regulations, but I made pretzels. The big ones like you get in the mall. My nanny and I rolled out the dough and I attempted to make them at least pretzel shaped. LOL. I didn’t do very well in that category, but my Nanny did. I thought her pretzels were the best looking pretzels ever made. Now whenever I go to the mall and see them twisting the dough with grace and ease I remember that special day in the kitchen with Nanny. Man I’m hungry!