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!
Lets discuss how you have the best giveaways EVER! Holy goodness- what a prize! The cookies look fab. You know Im a fluffy cookie girl all the way- so these are right up my alley. I LOVED baking with my Mom growing up. She wasn’t a HUGE baker (still isn’t), but she’d always set aside special time to make chocolate chip cookies with my sister and I. She taught me to clean up th kitchen as I worked (which I still do to this day) and to measure precisely (which I do with a kitchen scale vs. measuring cups these days). My Mom helped me appreciate all of the delicious creations that came out of our kitchen!!
Neither my mom or my grandma really cooked or baked with me as a kid, so I don’t have many fond memories with them in the kitchen. However, during Christmas time my grandma always made sure us kids were happy and had some of the traditional “baking” memories. She’d go to the store, buy the best store-bought sugar cookies cut into fun Christmas-y shapes, and buy a bunch of frosting and sprinkles. We’d each invite a friend over and would spend all afternoon laughing as we frosted, drizzled and sprinkled a bunch of cookies (and okay, more or less the surrounding dining room area). It was a total blast being able to show off our design skills and snack on the cookies after an afternoon of decorating.
One of my fondest baking memories was making banana bread with my mother. My mom is a great cook and is always in the kitchen, cooking or baking. Unfortunately, I did not get her kitchen talents. As much as I have tried, me and cooking just have never gotten along. However, I LOVE food and watching other people make it! I remember always watching my mom make her most requested banana bread and licking the bowl or helping her stir the ingredients (that’s about the only thing I could do right). Baking is still now one of my favorite things, despite all the failed attempts.
I can remember the day my mom taught me how to make pie crust. I was only about 5 years old and I thought I was big stuff to roll out the dough. I couldn’t wait for my dad to get home from work for his special pie. Your cookies look delicious and totally have me wanting to make cookies today:-) Thanks for the great giveaway!!!
My favorite baking memory was making poor man’s cookies at my grandmas house! I have never seen those type of cookies outside of our family but they really should be found everywhere, they’re so good!
My favorite baking memory is being in the kitchen with my mom and siblings around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each of us would have a task and would help with mixing, measuring, etc. the treats for the holidays. It was a wonderful time.
When I was about 10 or 11 I would bake lots of cakes in New Hampshire while visiting my family. My cousin and I would decorate them with all of the flowers from the garden which, being from Colorado, seemed overwhelmingly colorful and vibrant. We’d then serve them to the whole family (both sides!). Those are some of my best memories from our summer vacations in NH, and some of the last ones I have with my Grandmothers still alive.
My favorite baking memory is one with my grandma. She doesn’t cook or bake any longer, but she always made the very best Christmas cookies. We lived about six hours away, but every Christmas we would bundle up in the car and head to Grandmother’s house. When we got there, there would be stacks and stacks of sugar cookies on the counters, and some more dough ready to be rolled. We would help her roll it out, pick out our favorite cookie cutter, and bake up some more cookies. Once the countertops were entirely covered, we would start decorating with the frosting (scalded milk, powdered sugar and butter!) She would have bowls and containers full of toppings that we would use — mounds of coconut flakes, bowls of red hots, jars upon jars of jimmies, chocolate and rainbow, sprinkles, and always blanched almonds (my dad’s favorite). I cherish those memories and look forward to Christimas every year, where now I try to make Christmas cookies just like Grandma (but of course, they are never the same).
I have many favorite baking memories, all involving my two children. Baking with your children is a great way bond and get to know each other.
My favorite baking memory is, of course, at Christmas time. My family would go to my grandmother’s house to make pizzelles, my favorite Christmas cookie to this day. When I was little, I could mix the batter but of course I could not operate the hot machines used to press the cookies. So when that time came, I would sit at the breakfast bar with my grandfather and roll some of the hot pizzelles into tubes to fill with cream later on. Once in a while, however, we would break the cookies “accidentally” so that we would have a little something to snack on. This is one of my favorite memories of my grandfather, and of course, baking cookies.
Ooooh girl — these cookies look AMAZING! And cheers to KitchenAid!
My favorite memories of baking are spending the whole day with my daughter, Jennifer and making pie crust and pies a day are two before Thanksgiving. She is so much fun and loves to be in the kitchen with me as much as I do with her.
My Mom and I had spent forever peeling, coring and chopping apples for a huge apple crumble. We put it in the oven and the house smelled amazing. We were so excited for it to finish baking.
My Mom went to pull it out of the oven and “BAM” dropped the whole dish on the tile floor where it promptly broke into pieces.
I was devastated (I was probably 7 or 8 at the time) and when she saw my disappointment, my Mom turned and got 2 forks from the drawer. We sat on the floor eating the crumble that was on large pieces of unbroken casserole dish that hadn’t touched the floor!!
Probably going to have to make those cookies this week! My husband might think I only know how to bake with pumpkin lately, as that’s been the main ingredient in my last few dishes!
My favorite baking memory is when we had to bake with our dad, usually for my mom’s birthday. I specifically remember when we were little we once had to go to my grandma’s with him to make my mom’s birthday cake. For a man who usually stays out of the kitchen except to eat, it was certainly a funny experience! I remember flour being everywhere and my grandma finally rescuing our cake to make it edible. Another time we made molasses cookies. My dad couldn’t figure out how my mom got the cookies so round so we rolled them out like sugar cookies and cut them out with a drinking glass. He now knows you can just roll them into a ball with your hands! Baking with your dad has got to be one of the best things in life!
My children loved to go to Grandma’s to bake cookies when they were young. As my daughter was planning her wedding, she chose to remember Grandma by baking her favorite cookie (Grandma’s Molasses Cookie) as wedding favors. So 3 days before the big event, I spent an entire day in the kitchen with my daughter and (then) future son-in-law baking and wrapping cookies! We had a lot of laughs and it was a great stress reliever during a very stressful and busy week.
My favorite baking memories all center around baking with my mother and grandmother during Christmas break when I was little. I remember waking up to the smell of cinnamon and my mom and gma were already elbow deep in flour, I couldn’t wait to help out–and eat!