Back in 2014, Taylor Swift [1] basically broke the internet by joining Tumblr [2] and responding to diehard fans' questions. One fan may have asked the most important question — that is: what recipe does Taylor Swift use to bake her famous pumpkin chocolate chip cookies? Her holiday gift to fans for years to come was her answer: she uses this Food Network recipe by George Duran [3], except instead of milk chocolate chips, she uses semisweet or dark chocolate chocolate bars chopped up into chunks.
Whether or not you love her or her music, these cookies are sure to be a hit. The spicy notes of ginger and cloves paired with the ooey-gooey sweetness of melted chocolate is a match that can't be beat. Make these for your next holiday party, and we can almost guarantee you'll gain a reputation as a great baker among friends and family. Maybe you'll even start belting out, "Shake it off, shake it off!" when holiday family conversations get heated. In all seriousness, try baking these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and you'll understand our obsession. Get the recipe ahead!
Gather and combine wet ingredients.
Before anything, preheat your oven to 350°F.
Here's what you will first need:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
Start by beating your butter until smooth. Then add the sugars until it's super light and fluffy. Next, add 1 egg at a time, continuing to beat until fully incorporated. Now, add the vanilla extract and pumpkin purée and stop beating when it appears evenly mixed.
Gather and whisk together dry ingredients.
Here's what you need:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together until there are no clumps. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients in 3 parts into the wet ingredients and beat slowly just until cookie dough forms.
Add in the chopped chocolate.
Although the original recipe calls for milk chocolate chips, Taylor Swift [5] makes it her own by using rough chunks of dark chocolate. So, of course, we did the same!
Chop 2 cups of dark chocolate into small chunks and use a rubber spatula to mix it into the dough. Reserve some to sprinkle directly on top for little pools of chocolate. Points for presentation. Now, you can make the recipe as individual cookies just like Taylor, but we decided to do it bigger and better by transforming it into a skillet.
Bake and serve!
Just add all the cookie dough into a 12-inch skillet and top off with chocolate. Bake for 30 minutes or just until the center is set and the edges have slightly browned.
Allow to cool for 25 minutes, slice, and serve. For extra indulgence, serve with a generous scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream. Would Taylor Swift [6] approve? I think so.
