GF Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's that time of year when we all start craving pumpkin-flavored things.

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin coffee... those are all staples; however, finding a good pumpkin cookie is really hard. I was up for a challenge this week and wanted to make a pumpkin cookie that really tastes like a cookie, rather than a cakier "muffin top". They didn't come out exactly how I wanted right out of the oven; however, after a day in the refridgerator, the texture was perfect.

Below you will find the recipe for gluten free, pumpkin dark chocolate chip cookies. I believe you can substitute with regular flour and they should come out pretty similarly.

Ingredients:

(makes about 12 cookies)

• 1 cup pumpkin butter

• 1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree (I used Farmer's Market Organic Pumpkin)

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• Sprinkle of cinnamon & nutmeg

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 cup butter

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1.25 cups gluten free flour blend

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp cardamon (optional)

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp freshly grated ginger

• 1 tsp sea salt + extra for sprinkling

• 1 cup dark chocolate chunks (so much better than chips!)

Directions:

• To make the pumpkin butter, dump the can of pumpkin into a small saucepan. Combine with the 1/2 cup of brown sugar and heat on medium until the mixture starts to thicken up.

• Toss in a sprinkle of cinnamon, a sprinkle of nutmeg and 1 tsp of vanilla. Continue to stir and let reduce for about 45 minutes. It should be pretty thick when you're done and taste good on its own. I put my leftovers on a cheese board with some crackers and it was heavenly. Let cool. It should look like this when done.

For the cookies:​

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Mix butter and sugar in bowl until creamed.

• Add in the egg yolk, tsp of vanilla and the pumpkin butter (it should be about a 1/2 cup but I just used whatever I had left)

• Mix dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients. Mix well.

• Add the chocolate chunks. About 1 cup is a very chocolately cookie. Adjust according to your preferences.

• REFRIDGERATE. I was hungry and only left them for an hour but the longer you keep in there, the better they will come out. This is only the case for the GF version to keep the cookies from crumbling.

• Mold into balls and press down gently to form an oval. These cookies barely expand so they will come out as round balls if you don't adjust the dough in advance. We actually made a few tiny ball-shaped cookies and they were really fun to eat. I'm going to make a full batch like this soon to snack on at work.

• Eat right away! So good hot out of the oven.

• Bake for 16 minutes in a 350 degree oven.