​I find when making a recipe for the first time, seek out reviews by other bakers to get their perspective on the recipe. As mentioned before, use a premade pumpkin pie spice, chill the dough for 12-24 hours as the dough is very sticky and spreads when baking, place the chocolate and pecans in the cookies not on top.
 
Both my daughter and I chose to make half a recipe. All the ingredients were easy to divide, except for the eggs. The recipe calls for 3 large eggs. My daughter used 2 eggs.  I used one egg and my dough was very manageable. I didn’t need to chill the dough and I baked it for a little longer than the recipe called for. My daughter’s cookies were cakey; mine had crisp edges with soft centers.
 
Unfortunately, my husband prefers a cakey cookie, but that didn’t stop him from eating them. They are a great seasonal fall version of chocolate chip cookies. For this Thanksgiving and the uncertainty of who may be coming to dinner, this will make a great do a head dessert.
 
Since I only needed an 1/8 cup of canned pumpkin for the cookies, I used ¾ cup for pumpkin-walnut pancakes I made for supper the other evening. With the balance, I used the remaining ½ cup for double recipe of pumpkin mug cake from the food blog “The Country Cook.”
 
Besides the pumpkin, you’ll need flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, unsalted butter, an egg, heavy cream, and vanilla. Please read the recipe for the author’s notes.
 
Although this is called a “mug” cake, I used a stemless red wine glass. If I was going to serve this to guests, I wanted to see the results of cooking in glass. As I suspected, it turned out wonderful. I zapped it in the microwave for 3 minutes, but as recommended, checked it half way through. When I stuck the toothpick in, it came out clean. (Note: make sure you go all the way to the bottom of the glass.) After cooling, I just had to try it. The cake was moist, light and fluffy and had a wonderful spice taste. The bottom of the cake was underdone a bit and could have cooked for a few seconds more. I could have also dusted it with powdered sugar or a dollop of whipped cream as suggested, but I went plain.
 
I recommend this recipe for those of you looking for quick and easy dessert. A double batch made 12 ounces of batter. When divided, a perfect portion size and presentation for a dinner party. 

Pecan Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies
By Amanda Mack
October 20, 2020
From the November 2020 issue of Bon Appétit Magazine
 
Makes 20-24 big cookies. To make 40–48 smaller cookies, use a No. 60 cookie scoop (about 1 Tbsp.) and bake about 10 minutes.
 
Ingredients
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1½ tsp. ground ginger
1tsp. ground nutmeg
¾ tsp. ground cloves
3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
1¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt
1¼ cups (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened until just slightly firm
1½ cups (packed; 300 g) light brown sugar
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
¼ cup canned pumpkin purée
1 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
4 oz. (112 g) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1½ cups (9 oz./255 g) dark chocolate chips
1½ cups (174 g) coarsely chopped pecans
 
Preparation

1. Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°. Mix cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves in a small bowl to make pumpkin spice. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and 1 Tbsp. pumpkin spice in a medium bowl; set remaining pumpkin spice aside for making pies, quick breads, or another batch of cookies.
2. Combine butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed, scraping sides of bowl as needed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and with motor running, add eggs one at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition before adding the next. Beat in pumpkin purée and vanilla paste. Gradually add dry ingredients and beat just until combined (be careful not to overmix). Set aside a handful or so of each of the chopped chocolate, chocolate chips, and pecans. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold remaining chopped chocolate, chocolate chips, and pecans into dough.
3. Using a No. 20 cookie scoop (about 3 Tbsp.), drop balls of dough onto two parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing at least 4" apart. (If using a half-sheet pan, bake 2 cookies per sheet. For a full sheet, you can fit about 4.) Gently press reserved chocolate and nuts into tops of dough balls.
4. Bake cookies, rotating pans top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until golden brown around the edges, 11–13 minutes (subsequent batches may take 2–3 minutes longer). Let cookies cool on baking sheets 5 minutes.
5. Using a thin metal spatula, carefully transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool completely.
6. Do ahead: Dough can be made and formed into balls 3 months ahead; freeze on baking sheets until solid, then transfer to resealable freezer bags or an airtight container. Cookies can be baked 3 days ahead; store airtight at room temperature.

Homemade Pumpkin Mug Cake
“The Country Cook”
Author: Brandie@The Country Cook
 
TIPS FOR MAKING THIS SINGLE SERVING DESSERT:

• If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use that but just leave out the additional salt in the recipe.
• Heavy cream is strongly recommended for this pumpkin mug cake recipe but you can use whole milk if that is all you have on hand. Lower fat milks or milk substitutes will produce a different outcome.
• Make sure your baking powder is fresh. So many recipes don’t turn out properly because old or expired baking powder is being used. Check that can!
• For this recipe, I used a 10-ounce, microwave-safe mug.

 
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 8 Minutes
Servings: 1
Calories: 471kcal
 
Ingredients
 
3 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoon  light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 tablespoon salt
1/4 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1  tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/4 cup canned pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, or in the 10-ounce mug itself, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.www.thecountrycook.net
2. Mix in the butter, milk, pumpkin, egg and vanilla until combined.www.thecountrycook.net
3. Microwave for 3 minutes, checking halfway through. After 3 minutes poke with toothpick to check that it’s all the way done.

        Note: the cake will rise over the mug slightly while cooking, this is normal, it will deflate when done
        cooking.
    4. Let sit to cool.
  5. Top with red sugar and a swirl of whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice if
      desired.