Pumpkin Cookies

I've been on a bit of a cookie bender as of late. The reasons for this are threefold

a. It's finals week therefore I will take any excuse to procrastinate, and any opportunity to de-stress a bit, that I can (and obviously I need study food)

b. (Also tied to finals week) Cookies are relatively quick and easy to throw together, and while I will take any excuse to procrastinate, I really can't be spending hours in the kitchen right now.

c. (Possibly the most important factor) It's the holiday season, and I have caught the baking bug.

The recipe I have today comes from one of my favorite food blogs (Joy the Baker and if you haven't checked her site out before, you really should). Now I know it's no longer Thanksgiving, but I was in the mood for something slightly less festive and more homey. These particular cookies are more like muffin tops than cookies, but that doesn't stop them from being absolutely delicious. They are moist and tender with a light crumb. The only changes I made to Joy's recipe were to replace half the oil with applesauce (and this was mostly because I like the sweet hint of apply flavor along with the pumpkin), substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose and use raw sugar rather than white. I also made the cookies more...cookie sized, meaning I used a tablespoon measure rather than a 1/4 cup which decreased the baking time to about 10 minutes.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from this recipe from Joy the Baker

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 eggs

1 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup canola or corn oil

1/4 cup applesauce

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips, or any chip you like

Position a rack in the middle of the oven . Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and light colored. On low speed, mix the oil, applesauce, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it. Mix in the chips.

Drop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the cookie sheet spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 10 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen