Oh man, I love Autumn. I love it so much. Crunchy leaves, brisk winds, the ability to wear cosy clothes and opaque tights. Although I do miss the long summer days, and the ability to take half decent food pics after 4pm, there is such a comforting feeling to the days getting shorter and darker.

I’ve been on a quest to perfect my cookie baking skills and with these beauties I think I’ve pretty much reached my goal. I want a cookie that is crunchy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside. Dotted with chocolate chips that melt in your mouth and richly spiced so that the smell hits you even before you take a bite. This is that cookie.

Pumpkin spice isn’t really something that has existed in England until fairly recently. An American import, and one that I’m more than happy to adopt into my baking. It’s essentially just a combination of winter-evoking spices, and doesn’t contain any pumpkin whatsoever – in case that would put you off! The children I look after were suspicious of being my taste-testers until I reassured them of this fact.. And then the cookies were swiftly eaten in a matter of seconds. They said the cookies taste of Christmas and got their full endorsement, and we all know what honest food critics children are!

The below recipe for pumpkin spice will make a little more than you need but will keep for months, ready to be added to some steamed milk and coffee for your own pumpkin spice latte, or sprinkled over porridge with some maple syrup for a festive tasting breakfast. You can easily double or triple the recipe if you’d like to have a bigger batch to hand.

I hope you’ll love this recipe as much as I do!

Do tag me @kindstateofmind on instagram if you give them a try!

Pumpkin Spice + Choc Chip Cookies

Makes: 15 cookies

Time taken: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 50g caster sugar
• 100g light brown soft sugar
• 110g vegan butter
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 50g dark chocolate chips
• 1-5 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (see below)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 130g plain flour
• Sea salt flakes
• 25g vegan white chocolate (optional)

Pumpkin pie spice:

• 1.5 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp all spice
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with parchment.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until combined. Add in the vanilla essence and dark chocolate chips and stir again until evenly distributed.
3. Next stir in the flour, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice to create a dough.
4. If your dough is a little soft place your bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up a little – this will make it easier to shape.
5. Remove from fridge/ if your dough is pretty firm already (..or you’re impatient – I feel ya!) and scoop out even sized rounds onto the lined baking tray. I use a cookie scoop but a tablespoon also works great. They will spread out  in the oven so leave them some space to grow (you may need to bake them on separate trays or in two batches.)
6. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes, checking after 12. They will still be very soft but should have spread out and have a slight puffed appearance. As they cool they will firm up and gain that cracked look on the surface as they deflate a little.
7. Once they have cooled down melt the white chocolate and drizzle over the cookies before sprinkling over some flaked sea salt and an extra pinch of pumpkin pie spice.

Notes:

• Cookies should be kept in an airtight container and will last about a week.
• The prepared dough can also be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days, ready to be baked when the mood strikes for fresh cookies!