Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think you know by now that I love pumpkin. I do. I can't help it. It might be genetic.

So forgive me yet another pumpkin recipe.

I remember the first time I tried pumpkin pie ice cream. That's not the dessert I'm sharing, but it's related. Trust me. It was six years ago and my first fall/winter with my husband. I'd just moved to Oklahoma from Texas to be near him after meeting him on a cruise ship that spring. Here, he introduced me to Cold Stone Creamery and Oh.My.Word. I'd never had ice cream so rich and wonderful.

And when I saw they had PUMPKIN? Ice cream? Are you kidding? I had to try it. It was Thanksgiving in my mouth. The best part was that they let you have a free mix in each time you get ice cream there. So, what to add to pumpkin? Chocolate sauce. Not fudge -- sauce. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but I'm telling you -- it changed pumpkin for me. I started seeing it in new ways -- beyond just pie.

Thus, these cookies. All the spices that pair so well with pumpkin ... with the added bonus of CHOCOLATE CHIPS, ya'll. They're soft like little cakes, portable like the cookies they are and so wonderfully flavorful, I bid you good luck keeping them in the house more than a day.

Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl and stir to combine.

Fold in chocolate chips.
Place walnut-sized scoops onto parchment paper or greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes each. Let cool for five minutes, then move to wire rack to cool completely. Makes 24-30 cookies.

These are best, in my opinion, served cold from the fridge or while warm, but set. Because it's easiest to make ahead of time, if you're serving guests, pop them in the fridge after you make them and they are simply DELICIOUS.