Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin. Yum.  I hope you like it as much as I do because you'll probably be seeing a lot more pumpkin recipes to come. Like the maple cinnamon sugar donuts I made last week, these were made in another vain attempt to make the 111 degree heat (!!) in Pheonix feel more like a crisp and golden-hued autumn day. I think these cookies might have actually worked because the temperatures have dropped from 111 degrees a few days ago to 100 today with a low of 70 (!!!). So, not only are these cookies delicious, but it appears they are magical too. ;)

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Recipe Rundown
Taste: Warm with the flavors of fall yet still cravingly sweet.
Texture: This cookie is definitely more cake-like than anything. Usually I like my cookies to be chewy but its always nice to have something a little different every once in a while. 

Ease: Very easy (unless you live somewhere suffering from a canned pumpkin shortage, then not so easy. I found mine at Whole Foods).
Appearance: These look like regular chocolate chip cookies turned slightly orange in hue which I like because it feels festive and gives people about to bite into them a hint that there's something different.
Pros: Lovely way to easily incorporate fall flavor and some fruit into your regular baking rotation.
Cons: While the texture isn't my favorite, I found these cookies very appetizing still warm from the oven. As time went on they continued to become more fluffy and cake-like. This can be a pro or con depending on your preferences.
Would I make this again? Probably next year because I have so many pumpkin recipes on my To Make list.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Food Network 

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

2. Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips.

4. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges.

5. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.