Thursday, November 17, 2011

Improv Challenge~Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Wow, that is a big title for such a little cookie! This month the Improv Challenge ingredients are pumpkin and cream cheese. Two great ingredients. As soon I  heard the what they were, I knew what I would make. These cookies have a lot of ingredients, but they are pretty quick to make and oh, so good! Enjoy!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies w/ Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup Sugar
2 sticks Butter
2 tablespoons Maple Syrup
2 Eggs
1 cup canned Pumpkin
1 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ground Allspice
1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
pinch Ground Cloves
2 1/2 cups Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
2-8 ounce Packages Cream Cheese
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 cup Milk
1 tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste
zest of 1/2 Lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together the sugar and the butter until fluffy.
Add the maple syrup and the eggs. Mix to incorporate.
Add the pumpkin and mix in.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour,
baking powder, cinnamon, allspice,
nutmeg, and cloves.
Whisk until totally mixed.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of pumpkin. 
Mix well.
Fold in milk chocolate chips.

With dough in a small scoop, place cookies on 
baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.
Place on your wire rack until completely cool.
 So pretty!
Let's make the frosting!
Place the cream cheese in your mixer bowl.
Mix until light and fluffy.
 Slowly mix in the powdered sugar.
You don't want it to fly all over you because you are
mixing it too fast.
Add the milk.
Add the vanilla bean paste. You can use
vanilla extract if you would like. I prefer
the paste for frostings because the 
flavor is much deeper.
Fold in the lemon zest.
This looked a little thin to me, so I added another 1/4 cup 
of powdered sugar. Then it was fine!
These would be a great addition to your
Thanksgiving Dessert table!
Enjoy!

Thank you so much to Kristen from  Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
for taking over The Improve Challenge!
It is so much fun!



11 comments:

  1. What great cookies! I'll have to give them a try!

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  2. Oh yum. All the best ingredients! They look fantastic!

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  3. Hello fellow Improv blogger. These cookies look so wonderful. Everything we love wrapped up in one little "package". Come visit. We have pumpkin velvet cake.

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  4. My title for the improv challenge was ridiculously long too! But there was no other way to say it!

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  5. Your cookies look and sound amazing.

    If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my Improv Cooking Challenge recipe: Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake.

    Lisa~~
    Cook Lisa Cook

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  6. yum! these cookies look amazing. and i love the frosting

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  7. I hadn't ever thought to frost a pumpkin choc. chip cookie. What a nice way to make a good cookie great.

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  8. Hey! Great Thanksgiving treat!
    Come to A Themed Baker's Sunday where this week's theme is Thanksgiving treats. Be sure to vote on the side bar for next week's theme as well! Happy Holidays!

    Cupcake Apothecary

    http://cupcakeapothecary.blogspot.com/2011/11/themed-bakers-sunday-14.html

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  9. Mmm Mmm!! I am not a big fan of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but I am sure it's because I haven't found the perfect recipe yet. I love the idea of frosting them!! I'll have to give these a try!! Great choice for this month's challenge!

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  10. Looks delicious, especially with that cream cheese frosting on top!

    http://steaknpotatoeskindagurl.blogspot.com/2011/11/pumpkin-spice-cream-cheese-improv.html

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