MasterChef: Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites

These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are a delightful fall recipe and are perfect to make for Thanksgiving! They are made with coconut oil, a healthy substitute for vegetable oil. If you’re worrying these cookies will taste like coconut – don’t! The coconut oil binds the ingredients together perfectly without changing the intended taste. So, without further ado, let’s bake!

Ingredients

¾ cup of coconut oil
½ cup of brown sugar
½ cup of white sugar
¾ cup (6 oz.) of pumpkin puree
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups of white whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of baking soda
10 oz. of dark chocolate chips

Substitutions

Using a little less than the called-for sugar works just fine, as the chocolate chips add plenty of sweetness.
Regular whole wheat flour can be substituted for the white whole wheat flour, and will not significantly change the texture or flavor.
If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can use a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, giner, and allspice instead. I just sprinkled a bit of each spice into the cookie dough, but you can add more or less depending on how much spice you want. (I suggest adding at least a half teaspoon of cinnamon, along with the other spices, to give the cookies a nice fall taste.)
Mini chocolate chips work wonderfully with this recipe, and are what I used to make it (see the pictures!). The recipe calls for dark chocolate chips, but you can also use semisweet or milk chocolate chips – it’s up to you!

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º.
In a bowl (or stand mixer), put the coconut oil, white and brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth.
Add the pumpkin puree and blend until it’s incorporated.
Add in the flour, pumpkin pie spice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Blend until just incorporated – don’t overmix!
Pour in the chocolate chips and blend at a slow speed until there are no clumps of chocolate chips.
Using your hands, form the dough into little balls about 1-2 inches in diameter. Or, if preferred, scoop small spoonfuls of dough onto the tray to avoid getting your hands messy. You can either leave the dough in balls or use a spoon to flatten the cookies a bit.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The cookies don’t expand much, but make sure to leave room between each cookie, especially if you’ve flattened them.
Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes.

This recipe was slightly adapted from the one found here: https://www.joyfulhealthyeats.com/skinny-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies/
It makes about 36 cookies, but it can easily be doubled or even tripled, if necessary. Enjoy!