The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Are you looking for a perfect Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookie recipe? Try this one! I'll bet it will become your new favorite. And don't be thinking you have to wait for fall and Halloween and pumpkin season to enjoy these little beauties. No sirreeeeee Bob! The recipe calls for canned pumpkin which ...helloooooo...is available all year round. Hallyoolah (as Erin used to say when she was an itty bitty thing). You probably have a can sitting around in your pantry and perhaps you even have a few cans stored in your food storage that needs to be used up anyway. You don't need a reason to make these. Grab a can of pumpkin and in a few minutes you'll be the hero at your house.

Be sure to read the remainder of this post that follows the recipe at the bottom. I have a little secret to share with you....

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 15-ounce can pumpkin (or 1 3/4 cups)

2 cups chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. In a separate bowl, combine softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs. Stir in vanilla and pumpkin. Stir in dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. About 5 dozen cookies. Store in airtight container.


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Okay.

Now I'm going to tell you a little secret. Some of you will breathe a sigh of relief and say o gee what a good idea. And I am quite sure there are those of you who will scoff and laugh and maybe even give a great giant guffaw right out loud. Brace yourselves.

Deep breath.

I usually don't bake all of these on the same day. They won't get eaten fast enough.

Yes, yes, I know. For some of you this is a ridiculous thing to say since at your house the whole batch won't last a single day. It used to be that way at my house, too. But the clock ticks and time marches and so do the kids. Sad. But true. Let's not talk about that right now.

But. I do love some good, soft, home baked cookies. So I bake a dozen or two today and freeze the rest  to be baked later. And I like to have plenty on hand for when the troops come home.

The truth is, making a bunch now and freezing some for later will help you, too. If your crew gobbles through the cookies, make a double batch. Bake up a few dozen today. Freeze the rest. Now you can bake up a few or a lot any time you please. And without the effort of mixing them up. You can have fresh, hot cookies in just a few minutes.

Cover a cookie sheet or a sheet pan with foil. I use a scoop to form the cookie balls.

Place the cookie dough balls close together, but not touching.

Cover with plastic wrap and pop them in the freezer. Allow them to freeze for at least 3 hours and maybe even overnight.

When the dough balls are frozen, pop them into a freezer bag and put them somewhere handy in your freezer so you can snag a few or all of them next time you need/want/desire/must have delicious, hot, freshly baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies!

The truth is, you can freeze other similar cookie recipes the same way.

Freeze a variety. 

Be a hero at your house!

Bake frozen cookies a little slower and a little longer.

325 for 22 minutes.