Zac Young Shares What Type Of Chips Work Best With Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
There are plenty of creative ways to use canned pumpkin such as pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie, but a good pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe just can't be beat. The festive twist on a timeless classic puts pureed pumpkin in the mix, adding depth, richness, and a distinct flavor. In an exclusive interview with Mashed, Zac Young, Sprinkle Master at PieCaken Bakeshop and Sprinkletown Donuts & Ice Cream, explains that the type of chocolate chip you use can have a noticeable influence on the final product.
No matter where you want your cookies to land on the flavor spectrum, Young says that balance should be your primary consideration when working with pumpkin. "Pumpkin — not pumpkin spice — has a subtle sweet, earthy, vegetable flavor that I like to shine," he explains. "For me, the subtle, creamy flavor of milk chocolate chips are the best way to highlight the natural flavor." However, for some folks, the word pumpkin doesn't really mean anything. What their taste buds really light up for is the blend of spices that typically accompanies pumpkin — or any winter squash for that matter. If your pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are spice-heavy, you might want to take a different route.
Chunk or chip. That is the question...
Although Zac Young says the creamy sweetness of milk chocolate pairs well with the similar qualities in squash, he explains that something a little richer may be better suited for heavily spiced cookies. "If you are going into the 'pumpkin spice' world, you could go to the semisweet or bittersweet chip to amp up the flavor," Young says.
Still, there is more to balance than flavor. After you've established what type of chocolate chip you'd like to use, you must also select the appropriate size. While it may seem trivial, what size chip you use will have a profound effect on the ratio of cookie to chocolate you get in each bite. "As for chip versus chunk, it really depends on the size of the final product," Young explains. As a general rule, he says to use mini chips for small cookies, standard sized chocolate chips for medium cookies, and chocolate chunks for larger cookies.