My family will tell you that I’m not very traditional and there is some truth in that. I will find a new recipe and use it for a couple of years and then move on to something new and shiny. That said, for the past 4-5 years, I have been making these delicious cake-like cookies throughout the fall and well past Christmas. There is just so much to like…pumpkin puree, dark chocolate, toasted pecans, maple cream cheese frosting. The spices and textures give just the right complexity and they are not overly sweet, yielding a near perfect cold-weather cookie.
I found the recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies on AllRecipes (link below) but have made several adaptations to get them just the way my friends and family like them. My daughter, who is much more traditional than I, has even hand-stirred a batch or two these past few years in her college dorm kitchen to share.
I know this may seem like a lot of tweaks but I still want to give honor to the original Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and you may want to try that recipe without changing anything. That’s the beauty of cooking; you get to do it your way! But here is how I made these my own.
- I use a mixture of softened unsalted butter and unsweetened applesauce in place of the vegetable oil.
- I add in 1/4 teaspoon each of ground nutmeg, ground cloves and ground allspice with the dry ingredients.
- I use just over half of the chocolate chips called for and have a personal preference for dark chocolate chips.
- I bake some without nuts but add toasted, chopped pecans into the rest of the batter.
- I make a cream cheese icing for this by mixing together (at high speed) 1 stick of unsalted butter with one 8 oz. block of cream cheese, both at room temperature. Sweeten with a a couple of healthy sprinkles of powdered sugar and a dash of maple syrup to taste.
- I refrigerate the cookies with wax or parchment paper between layers until I am ready to ice and serve them. Sometimes I even freeze some for a later date. Trust me that they are even better refrigerated.
