Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Saw this recipe over at EtsyVeg a few days ago, and given that I have only... you know, a whole fridge full of pumpkin puree, I decided to try it.

I modified it a bit: Not having pumpkin pie spice, I used 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon of cloves, 1/8 teaspoon of allspice. Next time, I'd probably sub out the cloves for dried ginger, but I didn't have any this time.

All my ingredients, ready to be dumped into bowls and mixed up and stuff, except the baking powder, which was hiding, and the Earth Balance, which I really should've let warm up a bit.

Dry ingredients in a too-small bowl. It took a minute to swirl it all up together, but no big deal.

I got a little bit off-track here. I should've warmed up the earth balance a bit, but... I didn't. It's really hard to cream cold butter. Really, really hard. I haven't made cookies like this in a long time (I used a stand mixer at home). It turned into a molasses-y soup.

I pushed on, though, and just went ahead and dumped the flour and chips into the wet ingredients. I mixed them together for a bit.

The dough's a bit gloopy. Also, really good to eat straight out of the bowl.

I scooped tablespoonish quantities out of the bowl onto a baking sheet. This was about 1/3 of the dough.

These really do have to cook for 20-25 minutes. They're really thin, so next time, I'm going to up the flour a few tablespoons and chill the dough beforehand, so it keeps its shape better. They're pretty good. I ate about 4 myself, then gave the rest to people on my floor. Since I have 2 bags of the dough left, I'll probably make them again this week...

Pumpkin puree and seeds

After seeing a bunch of posts last week about pumpkin this and pumpkin that, the craze got me. I had to make some pumpkin puree (because carrying that many cans home from the grocery store? NO). Unfortunately, all I had on hand were the big mamas.

So step one: introduce pumpkin to its maker. To make these easier to carve, I took out the stem first (not pictured), and then it was easy to cut all the way around.

Scooped out the insides and set aside. I found it was easier to get at 'em with a wooden spoon.

Hacked at the second pumpkin, cut into smaller pieces. Later, even smaller.

After they were in the oven for about 40 minutes, I pulled them out. I probably should've done them a bit longer, but it seems okay. I peeled the skin off, put the pieces in a bowl, and mashed them with a pastry blender. A real blender or food processor would've done a lot better, but I make do with what I have.

In between dealing with pumpkins, pumpkin seeds! Washed off all the goop, sprinkled with oil and salt, then stuck in the oven for about 40 minutes. At 15 and 30 minutes, I stirred them up a bit to be sure nothing bad was happening.

After 40 minutes, lots of tasties. Put them in an airtight container. They've lasted about a week, since I haven't been snacking too much.