Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I am gradually getting my food cupboard stocked up again - my last flat had SUCH a small kitchen that I didn't even bother unpacking my things, and then I ended up between flats this summer so I had to put everything in storage at my Ma's house, and we still haven't organised a weekend when we're both free for her to bring it over to Bath.  The conclusion of such ramblings means that - too late to cut a long story short - I have hardly done any baking this year!

I do so love baking.  It's a bit like knitting: you just have to follow the instructions, and you should end up with something marvellous.  I'm not a very experimental cook, as I have never had much luck with the whole "throw in a pinch of this or a dollop of that" malarkey.  I am completely hopeless at portion sizes (as anyone who has ever seen or eaten one of my dinners will tell you) - luckily, being a Greek, I am consistently over-generous rather than stingy, so everybody's happy, including me: I think leftovers are a Godsend when you come home from work knackered and starving.  Baking, on the other hand, is orderly, disciplined, organised; and I do so love being organised.

Maybe it's because my fella's American, or maybe it's because one of my bestest buddies just emmigrated to the States, or maybe it's all you US bloggers out there making me jealous with your autumn holidays, but one thing I have been experimenting with this year is pumpkins.  I love butternut squash, and so it occured to me that I would probably love all the other kinds of squash, too, and in the spirit of seasonality, I am now on my third pumpkin of the year - they've beed added to all my usual casseroles and roasts with great effect.  But pumpkin cookies, I hear you cry?  Well, if they're good enough for the Rockstar Diaries, then they're good enough for me. 

I got the recipe, via the Rockstar Diaries blog, from Streaming Gourmet, but as the Rockstars suggest, I doubled the chocolate chips.  Who wouldn't?  I have transcribed it here for you, accompanied by my usual witty notes in italics:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin*
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch freshly ground nutmeg
pinch mace
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
  2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (original recipe says 1 cup, but come ON!)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F/176˚C/gas mark 4 (original recipe just had ˚F, but we Brits have no idea what that means, and some of us are blessed with an oven of such a fine vintage that it only has Gas Marks on it, so I have converted the temperatures for you, dear readers).

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add pumpkin and beat well. Then add eggs and beat well. Finally add vanilla and beat well (yes, the original recipe insists that you "beat well," three times, so be sure to do as you're told!).

3. Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl (this smells AMAZING). Add to pumpkin mixture, about 1/3 at a time and mix well after each addition. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spoon or spatula (try to spare a few choc chips for the actual recipe, I know you've been pinching them!).

4. Spoon batter onto cookie sheets that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or lightly buttered. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. (Lick the bowl)

Alas, Step 4 is where I encountered a slight technical hitch, relating to my aforementioned ineptitude at portion sizes, plus the fact that I haven't baked in ages and I'm a little out of practise.  Still, I should have known better.  We all know what happens when you spoon your batter too close together on the baking sheet, particularly when one has a propensity for over-generous dollops... 

Never mind, eh?  Cut them into dainty squares and you can call it Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake, it's still outstandingly yummy.

*Ah, well spotted, you crafty boggers, an asterisk!  And what does that mean?  Well, this is the opportunity to share with you another unexpected transatlantic cross-cultural anomaly: the reason Americans go nuts for pumpkin pie and we Brits never bother, is that in America, you can buy pureed pumpkin in a can.  So simple!  In Britain (for the benefit of my US readers) you cannot buy pureed pumpkin in a can.  You buy a pumpkin and have to puree the little bugger yourself.  But I found a very helpful tutorial online as to how one goes about pureeing a pumpkin, and it's actually really easy: steam it in the microwave for about 15mins, checking intermittently to see if it's soft enough.  If you don't have a microwave, steam it on the hob or in the oven.  If you don't have a blender, use a potato masher.  Simples!