recipe | pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

for the love of pumpkin... Pumpkins just rock. I really think they come close to being a perfect food. Not only do they provide immense autumnal visual pleasure, they also are an excellent storage fruit, as well as a nutritional-packed superfood.

My boys gobble the treats shown in this post with wild abandon. My goal this fall is to have them react the same when presented with a bowl full of yummy pumpkin soup. So far the family has not been too receptive to the concept. I'll be sharing a recipe next week that I bet with make them change their mind... after all, this is the recipe made me a pumpkin soup convert.

pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seeds! Without question, my favorite part of the pumpkin are the seeds. I love roasted pumpkin seeds. I highly recommend sprinkling them on, well, just about anything. The key to really tasty roasted pumpkin seeds is to not wash the seeds before roasting. For years, I harvested the seeds and then rinsed them off in a colander. Totally wrong! Just separate the seeds from the pumpkin matter, toss on a cookie sheet with sea salt and cracked pepper. Roast at 350º for 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring several times. Instant happiness.

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies... These cookies are more like light, fluffy, moist cakes. In all honesty, slather some cream cheese frosting and make a sandwich of two cookies and you'll have a homemade whoopie pie in minutes.

You can use canned pumpkin, or you can roast a whole pumpkin and use that puree. I picked up a pie pumpkin at the farmer's market this weekend, so I just cut the pumpkin in half, cleaned out the seeds, little drizzled the cut edges of the pumpkin with olive oil, and then placed faced down on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for one hour. Let cool to touch, and then peel off the outer shell. All that remains is the recipe ready pumpkin. I used 16oz (one half of a roasted pumpkin) for this recipe, but you can adjust the amount of pumpkin to taste.

The recipe below is from Jennifer at allrecipes.com. I made two slight adjustments: one is adding more pumpkin, and the other is using both brown and white sugar.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c canned pumpkin (*I used 16oz. roasted pumpkin)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350ºF (175 ºC) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.