Pumpkin cookie bakeoff

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I’ve had a hankering the last week or so for pumpkin, chocolate chip cookies. So I did an internet search and found two promising recipes, so I’ve decided to do a bake-off.

This first recipe is adapted from one posted on allrecipes.com

Recipe 1: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar (I actually used Splenda)
• 1/2 cup vegie oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, oil, egg, milk, & vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add chocolate chips.
3. Drop by rounded tablespoons on silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for approximately 11 minutes at 350 degrees F until lightly browned and firm.

The next recipe I tried is adapted from one of my bookmarked websites – Everyday Food Storage.

Recipe 2:Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oats (uncooked)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar Splenda

1/2 white sugar (or Splenda)

• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning
• 1 cup chocolate or butterscotch chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla.
3. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add 1/3 of dry ingredients to sugar mixture, mixing well, then add half of the pumpkin. Continue alternating, ending with dry ingredients. mixing between each addition.
4. Add chips. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto silpat lined baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes.

The Verdict

Since we had a big family party last weekend, I tested these out on many people, and each had their own favorite. My favorite is the second recipe – I actually used butterscotch chips instead and that made a totally different taste than the chocolate. But I also preferred the oatmeal in the cookie (and any cookie made with butter always rocks over those made with oil – just my opinion!). I did slightly underbake the cookie – as a result, DH preferred cookie #1. I personally thought cookie 1 had too much chocolate, but many people actually preferred the cookie for that reason.

If I were to remake these, I would use less chocolate in cookie #1, and I would up the cooking time on cookie #2, and maybe try it with chocolate chips instead (although I loved the butterscotch!).

Luckily, I was able to leave these at our family gathering and didn’t eat them all myself. It was the perfect opportunity for baking lots of cookies!