HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL! I don’t know about you, but I personally wait for this season all year long – the crispness in the air, the breeze, the leaves, the apples and pumpkins, the excess of pumpkin flavored products and ability to wear scarves…I love it ALL (what can I say, I’m a bit of a “basic white girl” – and while I don’t love the term, I have to admit it’s shockingly accurate sometimes…)
…Not gonna lie, this would TOTALLY work on me.
But ok – seriously – now that it’s FALL and all things apple/pumpkin/autumn can OFFICIALLY commence, I thought the best thing to do would be to kick things off with a twist on a favorite cookie – Oatmeal Chocolate Chip – with PUMPKIN!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies are so great – it’s like the Chocolate Chip Cookie’s crunchier cousin (and slightly healthier cuz it has oats in it? maybe?) – and they are my husband’s favorite of all time – and so when I came across this fall-infused variation, I knew they would be the perfect way to kick off Autumn
Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookie
(Recipe Courtesy of Cooking Classy)
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 cup unsalted butter , softened
1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Instructions
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 30 seconds, set aside
-In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy (occasionally stop and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl throughout entire mixing process). Blend in egg then blend in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree
-With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and pecans (if you want some chocolate to show through set some aside to press into tops before baking)

The Beauty that is raw cookie dough – just slightly more orange tinted thanks to the canned pumpkin
-Let batter rest 5 – 10 minutes (this just gives the oats some time to absorb the liquids so batter isn’t so sticky and cookies don’t spread so much)
-Scoop dough out 2 Tbsp at a time (I used a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop, which I recommend using for evenly shaped cookies and fill it heaping), and drop onto Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart
-Bake in preheated oven 12 – 14 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container

Cookies – pre and post oven
Couple of things that are great about these cookies – they stay super moist thanks to the pumpkin, and the combo of pumpkin and chocolate is pretty great. Also, even if you’re not a huge pumpkin fan, you’ll still like these – the pumpkin isn’t overpowering, and the cinnamon/nutmeg/ginger just lends a nice spice to them
Best of all – they are easy to make. Cookies generally are, and these are no exception (ease of creation is probably one of the reasons why I love baking cookies so much!)
(No – I don’t say Y’all – I am not Southern, not even a little – but I just love the saying “Happy Fall Y’all – so – whatever. It’s happening)