Welcome!! / Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Welcome to my new blog! I am so excited to have a blog about something I am passionate about - food! :) This idea came to me from a friend from college, Emily, who told me that I'm always writing about food on my facebook page, and that I should be a food columnist or something! I thought her comment was funny at first, but then I started to think about it, and thought about it some more... and finally decided to start a new blog, ALL about food!

First let me clarify that I am NOT a professional cook, or baker... (far from it really!) and the recipes and ideas I will be posting are probably ones that have been given to me and that I have tried & are simply recommending! I actually don't really like cooking, and coming up with ideas for meals each week is a chore for me... But I LOVE baking... I love desserts.. and I love trying new dessert recipes...

So this is my fun attempt to share my favorite recipes and meal ideas with everyone I know.... And I'd also like this blog to be a place where others share their recipes & meal ideas with me... So if you have something that is your absolute favorite dish (and even better, you have a picture of it!) - let me know and I'll be glad to post it and share it with all who read this blog. :)

And now, let me share with you my first recipe.... This recipe is where the whole idea for a blog came from... I wrote on facebook the other day that I was making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and then a couple people said they wanted the recipe... So here it is...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup Crisco (or 2 margarine sticks)
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ cups pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
3 ½ cups flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. cloves

Mix all together and add one 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips. Bake on cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 8-10 mins. or until firm.

* This recipe was given to me by my friend Kelly from college, whose Mom sent her these cookies in the form of a care package (and Kelly graciously shared some with me!) and I loved them so much, that I got the recipe from Kelly's Mom and gave it to my Mom to make and now I'm baking them myself! :) Anyway, they make a huge batch and my arm was sore from stirring them in my huge mixing bowl... but they are SOO moist and tasty and just perfect! They disappeared quickly at my house - my husband and kids loved them!

I also have another version of this recipe which I got out of my "light cooking" cookbook.. It makes a smaller batch and is a bit healthier for you and I've included the nutrition facts, as well.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cloves
½ cup solid pack pumpkin
½ granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup caramel-flavored low-fat yogurt
1 egg
½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly coat cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

2. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves in medium bowl; set aside.

3. Combine pumpkin, sugars, yogurt, and egg in large bowl. Blend in flour mixture. Add chocolate chips.

4. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10 mins. or until firm to touch.
Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Nutrition Facts per serving
(1 serving = 1 cookie)

Calories: 63
Carbohydrate: 13 grams
Calories from fat: 14%
Fiber: <>
Total fat: 1 gram
Protein: 1 gram
Saturated fat: <>
Sodium: 72 mg
Cholesterol: 6 mg
In both recipes, I substituted "pumpkin pie spice" for the nutmeg and cloves and still added a bit of ground cinnamon, too - enough of each until it tastes good! Also, for this "light" recipe, only a few brands make caramel-flavored yogurt - Yoplait makes a "crème caramel" flavor which I'm sure would work fine and I think I usually buy the Stonyfield Farm organic kind which makes a caramel flavor.

I hope you enjoy trying either of these recipes and please feel free to leave a comment if you do!