Monday, April 15, 2013

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (and Bonus Pizzaness!)

Following my triumphant return to the world of self-indulgent food bloggery with yesterday's Spicy Coconut Shrimp with Mango Basil Salsa and Lime Jasmine Rice, I decided it was time to finally finish writing about my Halloween Treat Trifecta. Since I already had two cupcakes (see: Reese's Peanut Butter Cupcakes and Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes), I figured it was only appropriate to conclude the Devil's holiday with appropriately themed cookies (well, that or finally start trying to make my own candy corn, but triangles are tricky, y'all). Can pumpkin and chocolate coexist for a delicious treat, or will I send my fellow sweet toothed partygoers home screaming?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from All Recipes
Servings: 24 cookies
Time: 20 minutes

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup granulate sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp milk
1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts



Aside from the slight spray tan like tint, this appears to be normal cookie dough.
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. Combine the pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil and egg in a bowl using a stand mixer.
  3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl.
  4. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir it in.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin and mix until just incorporated.
  6. Mix in the vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
  7. Place spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown and firm.
There is definitely a certain muffinyness to these cookies, which I thought worked rather well with the pumpkin flavor. But, then again, I love any dessert that allows me to convince myself it's breakfasty and therefore healthier. I highly recommend trying these fresh or warmed up as the gooey chocolate chips really bring out the best in the mellow pumpkin. While they may not have been as devilishly cavity inducing as the cupcakes, these subdued cookies helped balance out our Halloween Party.

PIZZA MADNESS

Since man can not live on sweets alone (or at least my doctor recommends that I wouldn't live long on them alone), our Halloween party and special showing of Zombieland was not yet finished. Kevin and I took over his boss's super awesome and fancy brick oven to serve up hot, amazing pizzas to the moviegoers all night (I imagine it looked something similar to that famous I Love Lucy chocolate factory episode). Here are some of our creations (Marvel as I attempt to remember what they were after 6 months!):

Chicken and Jalapenos and many cheeses and super background fire!
Your standard all encompassing supreme pizza highlighted by poorly lit sausage (also the title of the world's worst adult film).
Pineapple and jalapenos and probably some kind of meat for Hawaiian like sweet and spicy!
Be careful not to get the crust too close to the fire...
I highly recommend spending a night pretending you own your own pizza parlor by making a multitude of brick oven pizzas because playing with fire is fun and gooey melted cheese is fantastic. I would also highly recommend growing a kick ass mustache for just such an occasion.

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