The treat: they’re full of pumpkin-spice morsels — and pecans — and are therefore delicious.
The trick: they’ll turn your tongue black. Maybe not for eternity, but for quite a while.
Adapted from my recipe for Pretzel-freckle cookies.
Gather:
2 + 1/4 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 bag of pumpkin-spice morsels (nothing else will do)
1 + 1/2 cup pecans (or walnuts if you must)
220 g butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
Black food colouring*
Then:
- Preheat the oven to 170° C.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
… - Chop the pecans into morsel-sized bits. Set aside.
… - Cut the butter into small cubes. If it’s not already at room temperature, zap it in the microwave for 15 seconds.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with hand beaters), cream the butter and both sugars for around 3–5 minutes.
- Still mixing, add in the eggs one by one, then the vanilla, then the black food colouring — enough that the mix is properly black before you add the flour.
- Slow down the mixer(s), and gradually add the flour mixture until fully combined.
- Switch to a wooden spoon, and stir in the pumpkin-spice bits and pecan bits.
… - Scoop out heaped teaspoons of dough onto a baking sheet (no more than 12 to the largest tray), then bake (in batches) for about 8 minutes, or until the surface of the cookies is dry.**
- Allow to cool at room temperature, and then see if you can convince anyone that the EXTREME DELICIOUSNESS is worth having an inky mouth for the next half-hour.
Notes:
*Maybe a teaspoon if you’re using liquid; less if you’re using powder or gel. I used half a teaspoon of gel, and really… that was excessive.
** Since the dough is already SO dark, there’s no other way to tell if they’re ready. But if you use the “they look pretty dry all over” test, the cookies, when they cool down, should be crispy at the edges and chewy in the centre.
The Lucky Baker 