By Halloween. I have never been particularly oriented toward Halloween as a holiday — I leave candy in a bowl on the porch and go about my business — but I enjoy the neighborhood energy of it, the children dressed as things they are not yet, the temporary permission for imagination to run. There is something I like about a culture that sets aside one evening for transformation.
I made pralines today, which has nothing to do with Halloween and everything to do with the fact that November is almost here and pralines require patience and a candy thermometer and exactly the right humidity conditions, and the humidity is coming down from its summer heights and today felt like the right day. Bernice made pralines every fall, kept them in a tin on the second shelf of her pantry, and gave them to people at Christmas. I give them at Thanksgiving because I would rather have them early. I made four dozen. Each one is slightly different in size and shape which is how pralines are supposed to be — they are not cookies, they are not meant to be uniform, they are sugared clouds with pecans inside and they are allowed to be individual.
James called with a good report: Dorothy has completed treatment and the initial scans show significant response. The oncologist is pleased. More scans in six weeks to confirm, but the direction is positive. I sat very still when he told me. Then I said, James, I am so glad. He said, me too. He sounded like a man who had been holding his breath for four months and had just been told he could breathe. I stayed on the phone with him for a while after, not talking about anything in particular, just keeping him company while the relief settled into his body. Sometimes that is all someone needs. Someone on the line.
Pralines are not something I can share here — they require a candy thermometer and a particular feel for the sugar that takes years to get right, and a recipe alone will not get you there. But the spirit of that afternoon, the fall air coming through the window and something sweet taking shape on the counter while good news traveled through the phone line, that I can offer in a different form. These soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookies belong to the same season and the same impulse: to make something with your hands when your heart needs something to do with itself.
Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 13 minutes | Total Time: 28 minutes | Servings: 36 cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and sugar together with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add wet ingredients. Mix in the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla extract until fully combined. The batter will look slightly curdled — that’s normal.
- Fold in dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips by hand.
- Portion the cookies. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. These cookies spread very little, so you can gently flatten each one slightly with the back of a spoon.
- Bake. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cookies will look soft — they firm up as they cool.
- Cool. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 128 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 20g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 88mg