Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm still a little slow to post, even though we have full use of our kitchen we are still busy with finishing up the details. I did want to put up a quick post, and I know that these are totally out of season, but I love these cookies and wanted to put them up on the blog! This fall when all the pumpkins were fresh from the ground I went kind of crazy buying 10 of them and spent the better part of a day roasting, pureeing, portioning and freezing the puree. The work paid off though because I have wonderfully flavorful pumpkin puree to make these cookies with! As fall is beginning to get closer (not that close) and I still have lot's of puree left I might have a few more out of season pumpkin posts (to clear my freezer for the next batch)! These cookies are very light and tender but full of flavor.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs plain yogurt
1 cup pureed pumpkin (if you are using canned pumpkin add up to 2 TBS of milk if the puree seems very thick, it should be the consistency of the yogurt)
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (can substitute all purpose flour)
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp mace
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or your favorite chocolate cut in to small pieces)
1/2- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (also optional)
1 cup rolled oats (optional- I think they are only good in the cookies if batter sits a few days in the refrigerator, giving the oats time to soften)

Pre heat the oven to 375. It is important that all the ingredients are at room temperature. Cream together the sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg and vanilla and yogurt. Mix until it is completely emulsified. Sift togeher the dry ingredients and add alternating with the pumpkin then add the oats and choclate chips. Scoop into heaping tablespoon mounds on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, when you touch the center of the cookie it should spring back. It's important not to overbake these cookies or they get dry. I like to make this batter, scoop it out onto a cookie sheet and then freeze the dough. Once frozen put all the cookies into a zip lock bag and bake just as many as you need. They will be good in the freezer for quite a while. This works well with any basic cookie dough and it's an easy way to bake something when you have a sweet tooth and it also lets you only have a few around to tempt you at a time! Nothing is better than fresh cookies warm from the oven.