Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

And they’re vegan! Boo!

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: Vegan? Baking?! Why?? And now you’ve already determined never to make this because eggs and butter are essential to all baking and proof that God loves us. Well, that’d be a shame, because these cookies rock. They rock hard enough that you might even consider picking up some tofu on your next trip to the grocery. Seriously.

Full disclosure, I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin, and I really couldn’t make a good call on whether or not these were a success. So I ran them past a large number of cookie lovers (both vegan and not) and got nothing but various happy eating noises, shock that they were eggless, and occasional proposals of marriage. Even my niece, who likes nothing better than eating strips of bacon that consist mostly of fat, thought they were great.

I can say that they turn out moist, soft, cakey, and are such an amazing shade of golden orange that it almost made me like the squash. Almost. Ah, well, at least I can still carve a mean jack-o-lantern.

Happy Halloween!

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Adapted from Kirbie’s Cravings: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp rum


2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice, optional

1/4 tsp salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (make sure they don’t contain milkfat or other animal products if you are preparing these purely vegan)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Stir together pumpkin, sugars, vegetable oil, and rum in a large bowl. In a separate bowl*, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. Add the flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Take large tablespoons full of dough and drop onto cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Be aware that the cookies don’t spread much during baking, so make sure your balls of dough are flattened slightly and “cookie” shaped.

Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

*Honestly, I’m usually way too lazy to use two bowls for this. Deep down I believe that basic drop cookies are a one bowl affair (the cookies pictured in this post were made with the one bowl method), but every recipe I see always uses two bowls, so, your call.