pumpkin cookies with dark chocolate and craisins

I’ve realized that my life has been too wrapped up in school when it’s mid-October and I have yet to even think about a Halloween costume. If you know me, you know this is a tragic state of affairs. I LOOOOVE Halloween. I’m freakishly competitive about things that don’t matter, so I always come up with a good costume. And I’m crafty like a mom of three so I always make my own. This year, though, I’ve been so busy that I have no inspiration. The closest I came was suggesting to the GS that he dress up as Seneca Crane from The Hunger Games, because he has a beard.

He seemed excited, but told me he’d need to borrow one of my “mascara pencils” to fill in the design.

A costume for myself may not happen. And I won’t just go out dressed like I’m from the 80s or as a cat or a baseball player or anything easy. Because really, after you’ve glued 100+ feathers onto a white leotard, you can’t go back to basic.

Other than my lack of Halloween-spiration, I’m so excited that it’s fall. Okay, I know it’s been fall for about a month and a half but now that it’s somewhat chilly it’s all becoming real. And fall = pumpkin. We know this.

My go-to recipe is usually pumpkin whoopie pies, which I admit slightly resemble a Sandra Lee creation but they’re too good to pass up. I also made pumpkin bread last year, but since I refuse to spend $5 for about 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice I don’t always have great success there.

These cookies, though. Ooooomg. I had my doubts because usually pumpkin baked goods are cakey, and I didn’t know how I felt about the whole pumpkin/chocolate combination. I proved myself wrong.

Pumpkin Cookies with Dark Chocolate and Craisins

adapted from Good Life Eats

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 stick softened unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2-3/4 cup dark chocolate chunks

1/2-3/4 cup craisins

1 cup rolled oats (optional)

Combine butter, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and sugars.

In a separate bowl, mix the flours, baking powder and baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add to the wet ingredients in 2-3 increments until combined.

At this point, I folded in the chocolate and craisins and baked one tray of cookies at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Then I decided to continue experimenting and add some oatmeal to the remaining batter. I added 1 cup, and the batter yielded another 12-14 cookies.

The jury is still out on which ones are better. The oatmeal-free ones are slightly cakier but still dense, whereas the ones with oatmeal have a little more structure and chew.