Celebrate the flavors of fall by making these spiced pumpkin cookies that have a soft yet chewy texture with a bit of crunch from the addition of pecans and white chocolate chips.
Cracking open a can of pumpkin puree is a commitment. Unless you’re planning to use the entire thing in a recipe, you’re often left with an awkward amount and, at least for me, it can be difficult to know how to use it up before it goes bad. Oatmeal is one way to use up smaller amounts (like in my Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats recipe). But another food I like to make with leftover pumpkin is these cookies.
I actually first created this recipe five?! years ago, based on some cookies someone brought to work to share. They were a delicious flavor combo I had never had before, and so I wanted to try my hand at recreating them at home.
This is one of those recipes that I question putting on this blog, because it’s not exactly helping me “get my healthy on.” But since a healthy lifestyle is all about balance and moderation, I like to add some of my favorite treats on here once in awhile. This is one of the pumpkin recipes I make every year at this time because it has key flavors that just work together—pumpkin, spices, and pecans.
It always feels wrong to pick up white chocolate chips for this recipe because…I straight up do not like white chocolate. I never have. They’re one of those foods that I’m totally fine with not liking, though, because they’re mostly sugar and don’t have the antioxidants that dark chocolate has. But regardless of the nutrient content, white chocolate chips are a must in this recipe. And this might be the only time I actually really like them. Plus, they give the tan cookies a nice contrast of color, especially with the specks of brown pecans throughout.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream together the butter and sugars in a large bowl. Add the vanilla and pumpkin.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, powder, and spices. Slowly blend the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined.
- Fold in the white chocolate chips and pecans.
- Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie tray covered with parchment paper.*
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the bottom edges of the cookies begin to brown.
- After you take the pan out of the oven, gently press down on the cookies with a spatula to slightly flatten them. Cool on a wire rack.
Notes:
*To make the cookies look even better, you can press a couple extra pecan pieces into the top of each cookie (sometimes they can get lost within the batter).
If you’ve ever made pumpkin cookies before, you’re probably aware that pumpkin puree tends to create fluffy, soft cookies. I think it’s just the dense wetness of the ingredient that prevents the glorious chewiness many of us crave in our cookies. As a result, this recipe has the best texture when they’re freshly baked. However, they still taste just as delicious the next day, but keep in mind they do take on a softer and less chewy texture.
This original version of this post was published on October 22, 2013.
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