Dark Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Glaze & a McCormick Giveaway!

I was home in Oregon this past weekend (got me & Jeremy's engagement photos taken, so excited to see how they came out!) and had an Oktoberfest get-together with some friends and family. I made some more "intense" dishes for the party (homemade ravioli!), which I'll post about later, but I wanted to make something simple, fun & seasonal that I could make with my younger brother, and what recipe is more family-oriented than chocolate chip cookies? All three of us kids used to make them with my mom when we were very small, each one getting to add in a specific ingredient my mom had measured out for us beforehand. And while I've had my fair share of traumatizing cookie-making experiences, (like getting my hand stuck in the electric mixer when I was 5 and my older sister turning it to a higher speed instead of off "on accident" so she says..., or burning the cookies to a smoking crisp the first time I ever cooked on my own because I thought the cookies were supposed to be crispy when they were done and they were still soft when I poked them), I still love baking cookies. Which, when you think about it, really says a lot about how awesome cookies are.

So I decided to incorporate some pumpkin puree into the cookies and left out an egg so that the extra moisture wouldn't make them too cakey. I also used bittersweet chocolate morsels and topped them with a cream cheese glaze because I love the way dark chocolate tastes with pumpkin, and we all know the magical things that happen when cream cheese and pumpkin become friends. The McCormick food coloring really gave a nice soft orange glow to the glaze, but if you would like to make it a more intense shade of orange, just keep adding drops of red and yellow food coloring, stirring every few drops to check out the new hue, until the desired color intensity is reached. It's also getting really close to a sweet and baking-intensive holiday, which means that the McCormick spice company has offered to do a Halloween-themed giveaway! Hurray!!! The giveaway includes the following items, several of which I used to make this recipe (hello, Halloween food coloring. Also, cookie drying rack, how did I ever live without thee??).

• Red, Yellow, and Black McCormick Food Coloring
• McCormick Orange Extract
• McCormick Neon Colors Food Coloring Pack
• Expandable Cookie Drying Rack
• Set of Three Kitchen Aid Mixing Bowls
• Skull and Cross Bones Apron 
• Bag of Sour Gummy Worms
• Bag of Peanut Butter Truffle Eyeballs
• Bag of Candy Corn
• Bag of Halloween Taffy

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below about your favorite kind of cookie. The deadline for entries is 11:59 pm PST October 30th, and the winner will be announced October 31st. Only open to United States residents.

*Disclaimer* McCormick sent me these products to use as a part of the giveaway. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Makes about 14 large cookies.

Click Here For Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Parchment Paper

(1) 12 Ounce Bag of Bittersweet Chocolate Morsels

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree

3 Cups Flour

1 Cup Unsalted Butter

1 Cup Light Brown Sugar

3/4 Cup Plus 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar

1 Egg

1 and 1/2 Teaspoons Salt

1 and 1/2 Teaspoons McCormick Vanilla Extract

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg

Cream Cheese Glaze

12 Drops McCormick Yellow Food Coloring

8 Drops McCormick Red Food Coloring

2 Cups Powdered Sugar

4 Ounces Cream Cheese, softened

3/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Begin by making the cookies. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cream together the butter and the sugars with the paddle attachment of an electric mixture until fluffy and smooth. Add the egg and the pumpkin and mix until well blended. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients except the chocolate. Reduce the electric mixer's speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients. Then add the vanilla extract and mix until completely blended. Turn off the mixer and stir in the chocolate.

Use an ice cream scoop (3 inches in diameter) to place the cookie dough into cookie shapes onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper (warning, these will be big cookies!) about 3 inches apart. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until light brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing the cookies form the pan and placing them on a cookie rack to continue drying until cool.

Meanwhile, make the glaze by beating together the glaze ingredients in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment at medium speed for 2 minutes. Once the cookies have cooled, spread a tablespoon or two of the glaze over them and serve.