Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

So maybe I'm a pumpkin addict. What a strange thing to be addicted to =). I love it! Hate it plain but love it in baked goods. Is there anyone out there that eats it plain by the spoonful? Ugh. Horrifying. That would be like eating canned beets! No no, not that bad. There's nothing worse than canned beets. I tasted a bit of plain pumpkin puree when I was making these and it tasted like a spoonful of mushy, far too healthy to be good for you, baby food. Maybe if you were to jazz it up with some sort of spices and lots of butter than maybe, just maybe. Add a little sugar in there and I'll eat it for sure. Not sure why I'm talking about that... so, onto the cookies! I love love LOVE Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I don't know how you could not love the sweet, delicious little pillows of baked pumpkin-y goodness. 
I found this recipe over at allrecipes.com. I created my own adaptation, because really how do I stick to a recipe? I love to put my own spin on things. I used less cinnamon, added nutmeg and ginger. Reduced the vanilla because isn't the highlight the pumpkin flavor? I added molasses because it's the perfect compliment to pumpkin (brown sugar may give the same effect but it just seems heavy to me and I wanted a fluffy cookie, so I went with the combo of all granulated sugar plus molasses). I added a little red food coloring so they wouldn't look so  dull and drab (but of course you can leave it out if you'd like). I omitted the milk because I don't think it's necessary, I could be totally wrong though. Then lastly I used less chocolate chips, again so they wouldn't overpower the pumpkin flavor. I also used a combination of half milk chocolate and half semi sweet. I guess you could say I almost changed the entire recipe =), I kept the base ingredients the same though. I'm sure it's a great recipe as it's originally listed but like I said I just like to make a few changes. Enjoy these cake-y soft, sweetly spiced, perfectly moist Fall inspired cookies!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields 2 1/2 dozen

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 tsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 drops red food coloring (optional)
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, vegetable oil, egg, molasses, vanilla and optional food coloring. Blend mixture until combine. With mixer on low speed, slowly add in flour mixture and mix just until combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. With a rubber spatula, fold in chocolate chips. Drop dough 2 Tbsp at a time (try to pile them high for less spreading - therefor a thicker cookie) onto Silpat lined or greased baking sheets and baking in preheated oven 12 - 14 minutes until cookies are golden brown and nearly set. Allow to cool several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a single layer in an airtight container (some people prefer them cold so you can also store them in the refrigerator if you'd like).

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from allrecipes.com