In the spirit of the season, I made some pumpkin cookies with Avery Brewing Company’s Rumpkin Imperial Pumpkin Ale (15.9% ABV, 99 RB). Of course, I had to add more than just chocolate chips because I just can’t help myself which seems to be the perfect frame-of-mind for the indulgent holiday season.

I recently went to Julian with some friends of mine and my fiancé and one of the benefits of going to Julian is getting some of their amazing pumpkin butter. Trust me; it’s better than anything you can buy locally. Substituting regular butter in cookie recipes for “bedazzled” butter like: almond butter, pumpkin butter, etc. can really spruce-up a simple recipe.

Now, you can really use any type of pumpkin beer for this recipe but I chose Avery’s Rumpkin because it has a really unique flavor combination. The mix of oak, rum, pumpkin really pairs well with the cacao nibs, dark chocolate chips and pumpkin butter. The spice profile in the beer also complements the spices in the cookie, plus you get to have an amazing beer to drink while baking.

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour (I added a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice and extra cinnamon and ground nutmeg to the flour)

1/4 cup of Avery Rumpkin Beer

½ teaspoon of baking soda

1 stick of softened butter (unsalted)

6 tablespoons of pumpkin butter (can use regular butter if pumpkin butter not available)

¾ cups granulated sugar

¼ cups packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon of coarse salt (use vanilla bean salt if you have it)

2 teaspoons of vanilla

2 large eggs

2 cups of 60-70% dark chocolate chips

1 cup of cacao nibs

1 cup of roasted & chopped hazelnuts

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and whisk together the flour and baking soda in a separate bowl.
  2. Put both types of butter in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment and add the two sugars. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture and beer and mix only until combined and no more.
  3. Take off the mixer and using a spoon or spatula add the chocolate chips, nibs and nuts and mix until evenly distributed in the dough.
  4. Using a larger spoon or cookie scooper (looks like a smaller ice cream scoop) drop little cookie mounds onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place either 6-8 mounds on the sheets and no more. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, rotating once in the middle, until golden brown on the edges. Let the cookies cool for five minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks. Cookies are great for the first few days but can last for about a week.

Happy Holidays from me to you!