Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup salted, shelled, roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until a very thick dough forms. Fold in the chips and pepitas. Form cookies by dropping 1 teaspoon of dough on the sheet two inches apart. Flatten slightly then bake for 12 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

Yield: about 2 dozen

My thoughts:

I had cookies on my mind when I was at the grocery store today. I was going to make them with ingredients I already had at home when Matt spied a tub of roasted, salted pepitas and suggested putting them in a cookie. Clever idea and seasonal to boot (I spend most of early fall pretending it is still summer so the fact that Halloween is only 10 days away astounds me). I hadn’t baked much with pepitas before (just the odd muffin) but they added a nice, chewy texture to the cookie. It was a fun and slightly unexpected alternative to nuts, which to be honest, I am not always fond of in a cookie.