I can't quit eating these

I have searched high and low and tweaked things until I have created what I believe to be the perfect pumpkin chocolate chip cookie. I mean it. I love pumpkin, and I love chocolate, and put the two together and I am insatiable. However, most pumpkin cookies get this slimy exterior after a very short time that leave a slicky sticky mess on your fingers. Kind of a downer. So my biggest quest was to eliminate that, and these fit the bill. They have a slightly chewy exterior with a soft center the first day, then the second day they're just nice and cakey throughout. Never slimy. Always delightful. Happy cooking.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies of the very best sort

¾ c. butter, softened

1 c. packed brown sugar

½ c. sugar

1 cup solid pack pumpkin

1 egg

½ t. vanilla

1 t. baking soda

1 t. cinnamon

½ t. each cloves, nutmeg, ginger

½ t. salt

2 ½ c. flour

1 c. mini semisweet morsels (or a mixture of big and small - that's exceptionally good)

Cream butter and sugars together, then beat in egg, vanilla and pumpkin. Add spices and beat well, then beat in the flour and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. If you like to have a smoother look, refrigerate the dough for an hour or two first, then roll balls of dough. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or until tops are just set. Hurry and give most of them away in deference to your waistline and store what remains in an airtight container.

***Shara would like me to emphasize the whole refrigerating the dough thing to get a nice shape on top. I discovered that quite by accident, actually. My experience with these is that if you scoop them right onto the baking sheet immediately after mixing the dough up, it's sticky and soft, and you'll get misshapen cookies, also known as cookies with character. Make the dough in the morning and let it chill for a bit and it'll be rollable and makes them smooth like the picture. They still taste the same, so for the impatient cook that doesn't care how they look, dive right in.