Thankful for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were a holiday tradition around my house, so imagine my surprise when, in my adulthood, I encountered those unfortunate souls who had never had a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie. (Some even went so far as to gag at the thought of pumpkin and chocolate combined, and to them I say: fools!) I may be a pumpkin pie hater, but I am a devoted pumpkin chocolate chip cookie lover, and will vociferously defend this flavor combination.


The pumpkin puree in these cookies makes them quite moist and cakey, so these will obviously not bite your banana if you're a fan of thin, crispy cookies. This was a new recipe I tried, courtesy of Bakerella. The cookies by themselves weren't bad, but they weren't extraordinary--the texture was nice, and of course the toasted pecans and chocolate chips were great additions, but the pumpkin flavor wasn't very strong. [Sidenote: do all of you know the neat cookie shortcut where you can make these cookies with a spice cake mix, a small can of pumpkin puree, and chocolate chips? Just mix 'em all together and you have instant cookie dough!]

However. I decided to frost the cookies, which I have, unbelievably, never done before. I know! I have always sent my pumpkin cookies out into the world, naked and shivering. But no longer, because seriously? Frosted pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are AMAZING. Like, a million times better than the naked version. And while we're talking about frosting, allow me to diagram proper frosting ratios:


Trust me, you will want to slather the frosting on these cookies nice and thick, because the frosting is fabulous. It's a light cream cheese-based frosting, flavored with maple and cinnamon. But it also has a lot of butter (and a little marshmallow cream, that's the secret ingredient!) so it's a buttercream-cream cheese hybrid that's light and fluffy, with just the right balance between tangy cream cheese and buttercream sweetness. Between the cakey cookies and the frosting, each cookie was like a mini slice of heaven pumpkin cake.



Happy Thanksgiving, folks! I hope you all have wonderful days full of good food and good people. If you want to invite pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to your T-day celebration, follow me for the recipe...


Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice [I just dumped in a bunch of spices]
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Add both sugars and the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined.

Add flour/spice mixture to sugar mixture in three additions. Alternate with pumpkin in two additions, ending with flour mixture. Stir in chopped pecans and chocolate chips.
Drop on cookie tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12


Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick (4 oz) butter, softened to room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup marshmallow cream or fluff
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp maple extract, or to taste
1 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
1 pound (4 cups) powdered sugar
1.5 tbsp cream

Cream the butter, cream cheese, and marshmallow fluff together in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Mix until very light and creamy. Scrape down the bowl. Add the vanilla, maple extract, and cinnamon, and beat until combined.
On low speed, beat in half of the powdered sugar. Scrape the bowl and beat in the remaining sugar, added the cream (or more as needed) until the frosting is nice and fluffy. Add more maple extract or cinnamon to taste, if desired.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.