Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

And another one bites the dust.  Seriously, where do weekends always go!?  Meh.  Ours was wonderful – just wayyy too short!

On Saturday we went to a cute little local craft show – and I gots me a new apron.  And, it might just be my new all time fave. Sure it’s a childrens apron… but that shouldn’t put a damper on my fun right!?

And Aslan likes it too!

The idea behind going to the craft show was getting a head start on Christmas shopping.   How we ended up with 3 adorable pressed pansy frames, that cutie reindeer apron, a spring-y hand towel, and 2 boxes of girl scout cookies instead remains a mystery to me.  But on the bright side – these little pressed flowers are *perfect* for our pocket shelves…  See!

The weekend was absolutely jam packed with loveliness – too much for this little post to handle… Namely girlfriends that stick together through thick and thin and a warm and welcoming family of believers.

And then there were these babies:

 

One of my fave ladies brought a variation of these to girls night.  Which I promptly inhaled to the tune of cinco.  The following day I totally stole borrowed her idea and made a slightly different version (sans oatmeal – picky  hubs) for our first Thanksgiving of the season. [Yes, we have 4 this week – what’s it to ya;)?]  And although my version wasn’t quite as cutsy (mainly because they were giant, not tiny in any way)  They were easy peasy and a big hit… Please read: You should make these ASAP. They taste like fall.  Only less dead leaves and more pumpkiny, chocolately, cakey-cookieliciousness.

 

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. Cook the pumpkin with the spices in a saucepan over low heat for about five minutes. (=Takes out the ‘canned’ taste magically.)
3. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir into the pumpkin mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips. Stir in the walnuts if desired. Drop by teaspoonfuls (or if you’d rather go big – about half a ice cream spring-loaded scoop [=1/4 cup] ) onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges begin to brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Promptly inhale.  At least 5 of them.  Your tastebuds will thank you:)  Probably your hips too;)

 

PS)  Sorry about all the shadowy pics.  Instead of pointing out the fact that I’m a pretty awful photographer, lets just chalk it up to the darkness that is Upstate NY this time of year.  Through freakin’ May.  Now do you love NY?