Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

For the past few years I've been making Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies from a recipe I found on www.verybestbaking.com. I never add the glaze and always included chocolate chips. They are a hit every time. Last week I made a batch with Katie. We didn't have quite enough left from that batch to take with us to PEPS this week, so I decided to make another batch. At the last minute, I got brave and experimented. I reduced the flour by 1/4 cup and added 1/4 cup of Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa. So, they ended up being a double chocolate pumpkin cookie. Ben wondered if he would notice the chocolate flavor of the dough without seeing the color. I wonder if we would notice the pumpkin if the cinnamon and nutmeg were omitted. I guess I might need to bake a few more batches and do a blind taste test. 

Here's a link to the original recipe:   Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies

Here's the adjusted recipe for Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN COOKIES

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla, mixing until smooth.
4. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.  
5. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until edges are firm. Let rest on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Saturday, 11/27/2010

We drove down to Olympia this afternoon to have dinner at Ben's Aunt Carol, Uncle Jim, and Cousin Austen's house.  Carol made burritos with shredded left over Thanksgiving turkey.  I'm not sure what was in the sauce she poured over the top, but they were delicious.  For dessert we had pumpkin pie:)  We haven't visited with Jim, Carol, and Austen for several months.  It was really nice to catch up with them.

Thursday, 11/18/2010

We had breakfast for dinner tonight.  Yum!  I tried out a pumpkin spice waffle recipe and fried bacon to go with it.  The waffles tasted very good, but made me realize that we don't have the best waffle iron.  The waffles did not cook evenly.  The recipe, from CountryLiving.com, made more than we needed; so, we froze some to have for other meals. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon(s) baking powder
2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
1 teaspoon(s) ginger
1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
1/2 teaspoon(s) fresh-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon(s) cloves
4 large eggs
2 cup(s) buttermilk
1 cup(s) pumpkin purée
1/2 cup(s) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup(s) (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat a waffle iron. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, pumpkin purée, sugar, butter, and vanilla in another large bowl until smooth. While whisking, add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.
3. Generously coat the waffle iron with vegetable oil and cook the batter in the waffle iron as recommended in the manufacturer's instructions. Repeat with remaining batter.

Notes:

1.  I didn't have buttermilk, so I used the following substitution:  For every cup of buttermilk needed, start with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and then fill up the cup with milk.  Wait for 5 minutes before using in the recipe.  2.  In most of the recipes I use, 2 or 3 of the following spices are used:  cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves.  Rarely do I see all 4 included in the same recipe.  I think they worked great together for this application.  
3.  I used left over apple cider syrup from Halloween weekend on my waffles.  Ben used Mrs. Buttersworth.

Friday, 9/10/2010

Today is technically not the first Friday of the month; however, Ben's company celebrated "First Friday" tonight. In a nut shell, employees from his company gather together the first Friday of each month at a local restaurant or tavern to chat, eat, and have a few drinks.  Due to Labor Day weekend, this month's gathering was postponed a week, until today.  Katie and I had been out and about, running errands, and stopped by Ben's office to take him home.  When he mentioned that first Friday was in progress, we decided to park the car and partake.  We met his coworkers at El Malecon, on the corner of Seneca and Post Alley.  It is just a block away from his office; so, it is convenient.  The servers are nice and the food is OK.  The best part is that there is always room for a large party. 

I was starving by the time we got there, so I basically ate nachos along with a margarita for dinner.  Ben only ate a couple chips, so he had left over spaghetti and garlic bread when we got home. Katie was quite entertaining at the restaurant.  She said "hi" to everyone, gave fist bumps and high-fives, and played with her food.  She didn't eat much, but that does seem to be a dinner trend these days.  

After we put Katie down for the night, I started to bake cookies for our church's 2nd time sale tomorrow.  If you are in or near West Seattle and you like to hunt for treasures, you should stop by Fauntleroy Church UCC tomorrow, between 9am and 3pm.  In addition to the great deals, you will find delicious baked goods...like my cookies:)  I baked Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies using a recipe I got from www.verybestbaking.com--a Nestle website.  The specific recipe is found here:  http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=32364. 

A couple notes about the cookie recipe:

• I add in a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips for each batch.  The recipe says you can add an optional 1/2 cup.  I found that I needed more chocolate:)
• I have never made the glaze that the recipe calls for.  I don't think the cookies need it with the chocolate chips.  Also, the glaze would make them too sticky to stack and store efficiently.  
• In my oven, the cookies are definitely done in 15 minutes.   
• I don't grease the baking sheets, because I line my baking sheets with Silpat--non-stick baking mat. 

After eating his first pumpkin cookies of the season, Ben said "Ah, Fall is here" with a big smile on his face:)