Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

We are getting closer to the much awaited Thanksgiving holiday here in the States and in the spirit I decided to bake today! My hubby asks for one thing around this time of year and that is Pumpkin Chocolate chip cookies!! This being the first year that Jason isn't working over Thanksgiving and would generally take baked goods to work we figured a good time to bake cookies would be now because I don't particularly like them and he doesn't need to eat them all, so Thanksgiving company can help!

Last night I did some more prep work for all the dishes to be made here Thursday while waiting for our new bed to arrive! You got it, we FINALLY got a new bed out of those Kirby assholes! It was actually pretty funny, Mattress Firm showed up with our new bed and then Jason called the guy and told him we got our new bed so he could come pick up the damaged mattress whenever his little heart desired. For some reason they wanted the old one which we didn't care about, we didn't need another kind size mattress laying around the house. Well the guys showed up with a minivan and some bungee cords for the gas station... it was pretty hilarious! I can imagine their half hour drive home and cant help but wonder if the mattress made it.

We also had some parcels show up last night and following Jason's lead I decided to just go ahead and wrap them so there could be no peeking on his part either. I swear nothing puts you in the Christmas spirit like wrapping! I did no listen to Christmas music like Jason did while he was wrapping because I feel like I just cant do it until after Thanksgiving, I mean COME ON, one holiday at a time!! None the less I took a picture of my moment of weakness...

I didn't sleep famously last night, the new bed needs some breaking in and my shoulder is absolutely killing me. I REALLY don't want to go to the doctors right now and we are waiting on new insurance cards anyways as we aren't international anymore which means we switch insurance plans (pain in the ass) but lately its been getting worse. I wake up in the night and literally feels like the muscles in my shoulder are splitting in two, however its not my muscles. My whole arm goes numb all the time, from my shoulder down to my finger tips, truthfully I prefer that rather than the terrible pain. I really don't know what to do, but for this morning I got up took a bunch of pain pills and got to baking. 

I am not going to lie Jason is TERRIBLY upset that I am going to share this recipe on my blog, he feels like all his favorite recipes should be kept a "family secret" but I figure, share the goodness! So against his wishes that's what I plan to do! 

The Recipe is as follows:

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

4 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 Cups White Sugar

2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 (15oz) Can Pumpkin Puree

1 Cup Vegetable Oil

2 Eggs

2 Tablespoons Milk

2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1 Package Semisweet Chocolate Chunks

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients. 

In a small bowl combine wet ingredients.

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine wet and dry ingredients and incorporate well. 

Add chocolate chunks and stir in thoroughly. 

Drop tablespoon of batter onto cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until edges are brown. (Every oven is different).

Cool on rack completely before putting in container for storage. 

When I am baking I like to get everything I need out before starting that way I am not running around looking for ingredients I need and forgetting where I left off, because if you know me at all you know that is something I would do!

As you can tell it is rainy and miserable out here today, so the house was a little dark while I was taking these pictures. While prepping I decided to embrace the new Smart TV and set up Pandora for my listening enjoyment! I could no be more thrilled with the ability to listen to Pandora on TV!

I should have turned on the light in the living room before taking that picture, sorry! You get the idea though. 

I then got to measuring, dry ingredients first!

I make sure to give the dry ingredient a good stir before adding the wedding ingredients and combining. You want to make sure everything is thoroughly distributed!

I didn't realize when I took this picture just how close it was to the edge of the counter... good thing I didn't dump it! haha!

After everything is thoroughly mixed I add the chocolate chunks. You can use chocolate chips if you prefer, whatever works best, Jason is a lover of the chocolate chunks so I always oblige!

Combine the chocolate chips and you are ready to bake! As mentioned in the recipe about a tablespoon of the mixture per cookie, if you have one of these nifty tools it really does make it so much easier, if not feel free to do it the old fashion way with a tablespoon!

I did not grease my cookie sheets before baking, they are brand new and therefore its really unnecessary. If yours are older and well seasoned you might want to throw down a piece of parchment paper or give it a little spray first. 

I had my over preheated for 350 and popped in the first batch. If you have two cookie sheets its great to be able to have one ready so you can pop them in without having to wait for it to cool, etc. It makes the process a lot quicker to be able to pop one is as you are taking one out!

As you can see 15 minutes in they get a little brown around the edges. These cookies don't hold the same texture as most cookies, I think its because of the pumpkin! They are quite fluffy, almost a dense cake like texture. 

Although I don't like them, I always try one to make sure they are edible!

I told Jason to sit down so I could take his picture for my blog, he wasn't really a willing participant but man was he excited for the cookies! These are his absolute favorite!

So that's all there is too it! Make sure they are completely cool before putting them in the container and closing the lid! 

I hope you all enjoy the cookies, if you like pumpkin anything I am sure you will! This afternoon I plan to embrace the quiet with some tea and read some of the book I am currently reading. You can check it out on Good Reads HERE.

I'm off to clean up my mess from baking and make my way to the couch! It is extremely cold in Raleigh today and raining cats and dogs! My wonderful husband cleaned this entire house this morning so once my mess is gone I have nothing more to do! I hope all your Thanksgiving preparation is going off without a hitch, I am so looking forward to our company arriving tomorrow and the festivities beginning!