Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was a sophomore in college, I lived in a house with 3 other girls.  When the leaves started to turn and the weather got cold, I came home from school one day, opened the door, and was overwhelmed with the most delicious, autumn-spicy smell.  I followed the smell into the kitchen, where I found one of my roommates building a massive mountain of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

I’d never had pumpkin chocolate chip cookies before.  My family weren’t huge pumpkin lovers growing up, so my experiences with pumpkin-inspired foods had been sparse up to this point.  These cookies were my first real introduction to the many wonders of pumpkin treats.  And let me tell you: they set a high bar.

So of course I got the recipe from her.  Several years later, I remembered the cookies and knew I just HAD to make them!  I scrounged around until I found the recipe she’d given me.  It looked like it was HUGE – it called for an entire can of pumpkin – one of those massive 29 ounce cans.  I decided to halve the recipe and just use one of the smaller (15 ounce) cans.

They turned out horribly!  Flat, bland, disastrous.  I was so sad!  I figured I’d done something wrong in mixing them up, but I had no idea what…so I resigned myself to the fact that I’d never get to enjoy those cookies again.

But then I thought about how delicious they had been, and said, “No!  I must have those cookies again!”  The need was so great that I decided I’d just have wait until her younger brother graduated from high school, then marry him so he could make them for me every fall.

And I did.  And he makes them for me to enjoy.  Every fall.

The end.

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True story.  You think I’m joking?  Remember my husband, Nick?  Yep, he’s this roommate’s brother.

Ok, ok – so that’s not totally exactly the whole story.  Yes, that roommate is now my sister-in-law.  But I didn’t marry her brother for his cookies.

Well, at least not just for his cookies.

The real story?  Ok, going back – I resigned myself to the fact that I’d never get to eat these delicious cookies again.  In an effort to deal with the loss, I tried to forget all about them.  And I mostly did.

Fast forward several years later – I meet, fall in love with, and marry this boy named Nick.  Oh, and did I mention that he does indeed happen to be the brother of said roommate (that’s a story for another time).  THAT is a true story.

Our first year of marriage, as the leaves started to turn and the weather started to get cold Nick said, “Oh!  I need to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!”

I said, “…uh, ok…?”

And then I realize – OH.  He means THE pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

“Uh, OK!!!”

And every fall, he makes one gigantic batch of his mom’s pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  The same ones she has made every fall as long as he can remember.

And I get to partake of the gloriousness that are his mother’s pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Nick’s sister (my old roommate) sent us a cookbook for Christmas a couple years ago with her family’s favorite recipes.  I smiled when I saw these cookies in there.  When we pulled it out to make them that first year of marriage, Nick was appalled.  She’d healthified them – substituting butter for shortening, whole wheat flour for white flour, etc.  He crossed out what she’d printed in her book and wrote the “correct” ingredients in.

And he calls her every fall as he’s making them to ask her “why she ruined Mom’s cookies” by making them healthy.

He’s passionate about these cookies.  (See how excited he is to make them?  And for me to be taking this picture of him???)

And now I’m going to share them with you.  Trust me, this is the only pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe you need.

It makes a TON.  Like, we made 100 good-sized cookies last night.  Make sure you use a big bowl.

And that you aren’t on a diet.

The method is similar to most cookie recipes.  Nick mixes them by hand every year – he swears that’s the only way to do it.  I say it’s fine if you use your stand mixer.

First, cream the shortening and sugar (Nick does this with a fork…I’d use the whisk attachment on my Kitchenaid).  Add in the eggs and mix.  Add in the milk, vanilla, and pumpkin and stir to combine completely.

In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients, including spices.

Gradually add the dry to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.  Again, I’d do this with my Kitchenaid.  However, Nick insisted we had to add the flour in ~¼ cup rations, mixing every bit of flour in before adding the next ¼ cup.  When Nick and his mom made these every fall growing up, this way always his job – stirring in the flour.  Be forewarned: it get tiring!  But like I said, he doesn’t mess around with these cookies!  (Have I mentioned how passionate he is about them?)

And last but not least – add the chocolate chips.  The recipe says one 16-oz bag of chips.  Nick crossed that out in our recipe book and wrote “Enough chocolate chips”.  He says he just keeps adding chocolate chips, mixes them in and tries to “hide” them in the batter.  If he can “hide” them, then he throws some more in.  He continues this cycle until he can’t “hide” them in the batter anymore.  Truly, these cookies are best with lots of chocolate chips, so feel free to “accidentally” throw in a couple extra handfuls.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheets.  (They don’t spread out much, so you can fit at least a dozen on a cookie sheet.)

Bake 10-12 minutes, but be careful not to overbake!  You can tell they’re done when no indentation remains when you touch them with your finger.   They shouldn’t get brown or anything around the edges.  They come out light and cakey, but still dense and moist when they’re done just right.  You might have to experiment with a batch or two before you get it just right…but that’s ok, because it makes about 8 dozen cookies.

As they come out, you must pile them into a mountain on one single plate.  I don’t know why.  It’s just the way it’s always been done.  Maybe it’s because it looks awesome.

Or because it’s fun to watch it grow from a modest hill to a massive pile of pumpkiny goodness.

Or maybe it’s because it helps them stay moist and dense rather than dry out.

Or maybe it’s so you can’t really tell how many you’ve eaten…

Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes ~8 dozen

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 large (29 oz) can pumpkin
5 cups flour
2 tsp of each of the following:

• Baking soda
  Baking powder
  Salt
  Ginger
  Allspice
  Nutmeg
  Cinnamon
  Ground cloves

16-oz bag chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cream shortening and sugar together.
3. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla and pumpkin and stir to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients, except the chocolate chips.
5. Gradually add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mixture.
6. Stir in the bag of chocolate chips.
7. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
9. Let cookies cool on pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a large plate, piling cookies on top of each other to make a mountain of pumpkiny goodnes.  Your friends and family will thank you.