these are the best friend kind of cookies. they're easy, no-commitment. they go from concept to baked within 15 minutes flat. they forgive all of your errors and then some. they're pillowy and soft, puffy little clouds of pumpkin. they're exactly what you need for fall, as the weather gets cooler and the leaves crisp and turn golden, fall to the sidewalks. they're a cookie pillow you can curl up with and take to bed with you, keep you warm.
fall is my favorite season, bar none. maybe because it's traditionally the time of the new school year, it always feels like a heavy sense of promise hangs in the air. time for change, reinvention. witches' brews and cider, long thin spidery branches and ghost stories. i want to go apple picking and eat apple cider doughnuts. i want to go on hayrides and to corn mazes. i want to wear heavy irish fishermen's sweaters and combat boots and feel the cold air pink up my cheeks and frost my nose. i'm not sure how to translate my love of fall to new york city, but i feel like it's developing into another type of fall to be equally in love with. i hated running in the city during the summer, when the air was humid and heavy as a blanket. but now it's crisp and cool in central park. the dark comes earlier. the birds are quieter.
tomorrow is my first exam in culinary school - over sanitation and herb identification. i feel fairly confident in both parts, lucky that my internship has already exposed me to most of these sanitation concerns (the only bit i'm not confident on is my meat temperatures). it's a weird feeling, to be excited to go to class instead of feeling like it's utter waste of my time. instead, i feel like i can't get enough time in these worlds, like i have so much to learn and master.
it's okay. start small. bake a cookie.
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 dark brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda mixed with 1 tsp milk
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
preheat oven to 375.
combine flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and whisk together in a medium bowl. set aside. in a stand mixer, combine pumpkin, sugars, oil, baking soda mixture, and vanilla. once thoroughly incorporated, add dry mixture. add chocolate chips.
drop cookies using a large spoon onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. bake for 10-15 minutes, until cookies are firm and puffed.
