Caramel Toffee Pumpkin Cookies

If you know anything about me, you may likely know that I don’t really like pumpkin pie. This time of year, I come across many recipes that use pumpkin, but they aren’t really my favorite. I find that when you use pumpkin or other similar ingredients, they add too much moisture to the dough, and the cookies are soft and even sticky. That’s not the texture I care for, so I am extremely careful when looking at any recipe that contains pumpkin.

But when is pumpkin not pumpkin? I often make sweet potato pie as I like that more than pumpkin pie (but let’s be honest, I usually make apple pie). In my cupboard I have canned sweet potato, and I thought about using that in a pumpkin cookie recipe. It should work! From the can, sweet potato puree and pumpkin puree look the same and have those great scents of fall. It’s a little strange to use potato in a cookie, but not too bad when you consider it an alternative to pumpkin.

Looking at the original picture of these, I knew they wouldn’t be sticky or cakey. They were thin and soft, but still had a good chew. They mix together quickly and don’t require any refrigeration, which was convenient. It’s a little difficult to tell when these cookies brown, but they do start to color a bit. The cookies will be puffed when removed from the oven, but then flatten into a nice flat cookie, sprinkled with toffee flecks. The cookies are soft but retain a nice chew. They taste like fall, but with a subtle pumpkin/sweet potato flavor!

Caramel Toffee Pumpkin Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin/sweet potato puree
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup toffee bits
1/2 cup caramel bits

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium until light. Add the pumpkin and vanilla and mix on medium to incorporate. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt, mixing until the dough almost comes together. Add the toffee bits and caramel bits and stir them into the dough using a spatula.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, so that each mound of dough is about 1-1/2” wide.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies begin to brown. The cookies will be puffy when removed from the oven but will flatten as they cool. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from The Chunky Chef