Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies + KitchenAid Stand Mixer + $200 Williams-Sonoma Gift Card Giveaway

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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.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies on pink plate

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.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies on pink plate

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.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with nestle chocolate chips

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.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies on pink plate

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.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies on pink plate

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.

stacked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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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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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies on pink plate

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 Powerâ„¢ 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!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, easy, tasty and delicious.

 



About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

Comments

  1. Incredible giveaway! My favorite baking memory is from last holiday season. It was the most I’ve ever baked in a given season! One bit hit was your Mixed Berry Clafoutis! I LOVED it and so did everyone else. Thank you!

  2. A pivotal point in my baking career came when I was only 9 years old. I had been taking cooking classes in 4-H and felt pretty confident in my new abilities. It was a Sunday afternoon and my mom was taking a nap. I decided to make brownies from scratch. As I began adding the ingredients, I came across one that was not familiar to me…..confectioner’s sugar. I struggled with whether to wake my mom and ask her but decided against it. I figured it was just a fancy name for sugar so I added regular granulated sugar. I baked the brownies and was so excited to take them out of the oven and share with my family. I knew my mom would be so proud when she woke up. The brownies were a little soupy upon taking them out of the oven but I figured they would set up as they cooled. They never did set up. My mom was not upset but what a huge lesson to me….at the ripe old age of 9, I still had a lot to learn. The upside was that my brother and I ate the soupy brownies with a spoon.

  3. my favorite baking memory would have to be my weekly ritual with my boyfriend of making vegan chocolate chip cookies with my boyfriend. we’ve adjusted the recipe so many times to make it the absolute healthiest, yet still absolutely delicious as possible. and all organic ingredients!

  4. I loved to bake with my mom when I was a kid. Licking the chocolate chip cookie batter off the beaters of her Kitchenaid was awesome. It was always a fight between me and my sister on who got the bowl too!

  5. My favorite baking memory is learning to make an angel food cake from scratch with my grandma. I got to learn how to separate eggs (and it took a dozen, so I got lots of practice!) and also loved the sifting of the cake flour and other ingredients. I don’t remember how many times I had to sift, but it was more than a couple. Homemade angel food cakes are the best, too!

  6. My favorite baking memory is actually a bittersweet one. The zucchini from my father’s garden grew in abundance. However, it had only one purpose, to be made into zucchini bread. My dad always grated the zucchini and not without reminding me several times that the zucchini came from his garden so he was entitled to a full loaf with extra chocolate chips and walnuts all to himself. I recalled how my dad could never wait for the zucchini bread to come out of the oven and would hang around the kitchen checking to see the progress of the bread. Once the bread would come out of the oven, he would cut through the hot bread and basically ruin one loaf by leaving it no hopes of retaining a bread like shape. That loaf was then labeled “For Dad Only” and remained in the loaf pan covered and not to be touched by anyone but my dad.

    This past New Year’s Eve my father passed away unexpectedly, my family was heartbroken but no one was more upset than my mother. On Father’s Day, because I could not bear to go visit my mom who lives 600 miles away from me, I decided to send her a gift from my dad. I baked two loaves of zucchini bread (both with extra choco-chips and walnuts). As I baked the loaves and my house filled with the scent of cinnamon, I wept my heart out. I then put labels on both loaves with the caption, “For Mom Only, because dad would want you to have his share” and I overnighted those loaves to her. For days after baking the bread, the sweet smell lingered in my house. It was everywhere, my furniture, clothes, even on my dog. This was my best baking moment, a good cry, a lingering scented memory, and the best thank you call from my mother (who ate one loaf and froze the other one but never shared one crumb of either loaf). The best baking comes from the heart!

  7. At Christmas time my mom would break out her ‘spritz’ cookie press. It was like a gun with a hollow barrel that we would fill with dough. We would then fit the silver discs over the end of the barrel that had cut-outs of different shapes: trees, stars, crescents, Santa, etc. Mom would let me pull the trigger and the press would send the dough through the cut outs to make the different shaped cookies. I had to give the trigger the right amount of pressure and lift the press off of the cookie sheet at just the right moment in order for the cookies to actually look like trees or stars rather than a big blob of dough. Once decorated with loads of sprinkles and baked, they were a melt-in-your-mouth delight!

  8. i have been vegan for about 2 years now and gluten-free for a long time (celiac disease). my amazing husband is so supportive (he is definitely a gluten-eating carnivore!) and tries (and succeeds!) so hard to make food that i can eat, especially baked goods… so i have many memories of us in the kitchen together trying to make gluten-free vegan desserts that taste amazing! maybe the best was the time we discovered soaking gluten-free cake in rum makes it much more moist :)

  9. Every Thursday night after dinner growing up, my sister, my dad, and myself would bake chocolate chip cookies before watching The Cosby Show. We called it “cookies & Cosby”. Very good memories. :)

  10. My favorite baking memory is making cupcakes from scratch for the first time. My roommate gave me mini cupcake pans for my Birthday, so I made a bajillion little cupcakes.

  11. My favorite baking memory is baking cookies with my mom as a little girl. I used to pull up a chair to stand on (I was too short to see the counter!) and she would let me measure, mix and, of course, taste test. Now, 15 years later, I’m the one doing the baking for her :)

  12. My favorite baking memory is when my mom and I tried to bake cheesecake for christmas eve when I was about ten. One of them puffed up over the sides of the pan and the other imploded! It was a mess but loads of fun, and although we had to scoop them onto plates rather than slice they were delicious.

    I have always wanted a kitchen aid!! Probably several years away as I’m still accumulating university debt, but maybe I’ll get lucky!!

  13. The first time I made an apple pie with my husband, it was perfect. Due to the fact that we had no money and very few kitchen pans, we used a disposable pie pan. It was beautiful, just as my husband went to put it into the oven, the pan gave way. The unbaked pie slid out of the pan and onto the oven door. We laughed and scooped it back into the pan, cooked it up and ate it anyway. I always love to think of the laughter we had that evening. 40 years later we are still baking together and laughing.

  14. My favorite baking memories are from Christmas when I was younger. We would always make (what we called) chocolate bark, orange/nilla wafer balls, and cheese straws on Christmas Eve day. Then, my mother would make a big brunch with cinnamon rolls, grits, eggs, bacon, and other baked goods for our family on Christmas morning before we headed out of town to visit the rest of the family. We could always smell the cinnamon rolls and other baked goods in the oven while we opened presents. On Christmas night, I would always help my grandmother prepare the big Christmas dinner for the family. So many good memories :)

  15. My favorite cooking memory is from a few years ago when I had my two best friends over and we baked 15 different kinds of cookies during the Holiday season. We sang Christmas songs and had lots of laughs! This reminds me, that I must have them over my house again this Christmas season when we are all home from college.

    Thank you for sharing your amazing recipe and your lovely story! Keep coming with the pumpkin recipes! I am in love with everything pumpkin- pumpkin tea, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin muffins- so now I must try your wonderful recipe!

    Take care!!