Chewy Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Uh huh.  CHEWY Pumpkin Cookies.  Not cake-y pumpkin cookies.  Chewy.  I spend the few months of fall consuming as much pumpkin as I can but sometimes I feel a bit limited about what I can make because pumpkin is SO moist.  It's hard to create certain textures without the pumpkin weighing down the dish a bit.   

I think the modest amount of pumpkin and the oats are the heros in these cookies.  Pumpkin, along with the usual spice suspects, has a pretty distinct flavor so one cup goes a long way here.  And oats add some extra texture along with absorbing some wetness from the pumpkin.  

Success!

And when you toss in some slivered almonds, dried cranberries and semisweet chocolate?  Heaven.  I ate no less than 5 or 6 of these cookies myself.  Lucky for me, this recipe makes a big batch so there was still plenty to share (and hoard for myself).  

Of course you can also load these beauties up with whatever your heart desires.  White chocolate?  Pecans?  Dried Apricots?  Walnuts? Toffee Bits?  Think of these cookies as your canvas.  Your delicious pumpkin canvas.  

Here's the recipe!  

Chewy Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filing) 
• 3/4 cup slivered almonds
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheets with silicon mats or parchment paper and set aside. 
2.  In a small bowl, combine flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.  Whisk to combine and set aside.  
3.  In a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and stir to incorporate.  Add vanilla extract and combine.  Add pumpkin puree and mix well to combine.  
4.  Add dry ingredients into wet and stir well, making sure no flour remains.  Add almonds, cranberries, and chocolate chips and fold to combine.  
5.  Scooping dough about 2 tablespoons, roll gently into a ball and add to baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.  Bake 12-16 minutes, rotating pans half way through baking.  Cookies should be golden brown and set around the edges.  Allow to cool about 5 minutes on baking sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.  

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Baker Chick