Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here's a confession: I NEVER read what a blogger writes on a recipe page other than the recipe, especially when it's a dessert. I'm usually a healthy eater and when I finally decide that I can't go another minute without homemade guilt-ridden deliciousness, nothing else seems interesting. At least not words. Maybe if there were such things as chocolate covered words...then I would delay my tantalizing creation. 

With this said, I will admit that you, dear reader, do not read to read my 'fluff' although I will try to make it interesting for you. I promise not to be offended. 

Here's the goal: Make the world's most delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract  
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans (optional) 
• OR substitute for white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts

                YIELD: 24 big cookies    

Healthy Alternatives: Substitute applesauce for the vegetable oil and/or whole wheat flour for the white flour, and fewer chocolate chips (still tasty with only 1 cup).

For a more pumpkin like color, add 1-3 drops of red food dye to the pumpkin mixture.                         

Please note Dave, the photogenic goldfish in the background

Step 1: Combine the pumpkin, sugar, oil, and egg in a large bowl and stir. 

Step 2: In a medium/small bowl, combine and stir the flour, baking POWDER (I definitely mixed this up with baking soda, hence the capital letters), cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. 

Step 3: In the tiniest mixing bowl you have, stir the baking SODA and milk together until the baking soda is dissolved. 

Step 4: Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir. Then add that bowl to the pumpkin mixture and stir well.

Step 5: Add the vanilla and chocolate. As this is where the chocolate comes in, it is my favorite step. 

Step 6: Drop spoonfuls onto a GREASED cookie sheet (batter will be sticky) and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. It may help the cookie's appearance if you hit the cookie trays on the counter a couple times to spread the batter more evenly. 

Step 7: Consume with joy

Make these yourself and let me know if you think we reached the goal! 

Recipe slightly altered from Allrecipes.com's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies II using the corresponding reviews.