Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 113 g (1/2 cup) Unsalted butter, browned 
• 195 g (1 1/2 cup) Plain flour/All purpose flour 
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice mix
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1 egg yolk at room temperature 
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract 
• 60 g (1/4 cup) pumpkin puree, strained 
• 100 g (1/2 cup) Light brown sugar, packed
• 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• Small drop of Orange food gel colour

Chocolate for dough

• 45 g (1/4 cup) Milk Chocolate chips
• 40 g (1/4 cup) Chocolate chunks, roughly chopped 

Chocolate for top

• 2 tbsp dark chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp dark chocolate chunks, roughly chopped

1. Start by browning the butter. Browning butter involves heating butter on the stovetop until it has browned, the milk solids have separated from the butterfat then toasted into golden brown specks and the water in the butter has evaporated. Cook the butter in a saucepan (stainless steel is the best) over medium heat and let the butter melt. 
2. Once it melts, turn the heat to low and let it simmer. You will observe white foam on top and then it starts bubbling (keep stirring frequently). Watch carefully as light brown specks start to form and set at the bottom of the pan (these are the caramelised milk solids). You can smell the nutty aroma. At this point, you need to be extra careful and keep an eye on it because milk solids can burn easily (from brown to black). 
3. When these specks change their colour from light brown to deep brown colour, immediately remove it from the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl, scrape down the bottom of the pan to get all the brown bits using a spatula (the whole process will take 6-7 minutes). I started with 141 g (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) of butter and browned it to get 113 g (1/2 cup) of butter as water in the butter is evaporated. Let it cool to room temperature.
4. Take 1/2 cup (120 g) of pumpkin puree, strain it using cheesecloth to get 1/4 cup (60 g) of puree, and set aside.
5. Line your baking sheets with baking paper and preheat the oven to 155°C/320°F (for the Fan oven) and 175°C/347°F for the conventional oven.
6. In a medium bowl, sift together plain flour/all-purpose flour, salt, and baking soda. Whisk them to combine and set aside.
7. In a large mixing bowl, add room temperature brown butter, white and brown sugar, and mix with a whisk until mixture is well combined. Add in the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and whisk them together until well combined. Add in the reduced pumpkin puree (1/4 cup or 60 g), pumpkin spice mix, ground cinnamon and a small drop of orange food gel colour. Mix to combine.
8. Fold in the dry ingredients using a spatula until just combined, be careful not to overmix the batter.
9. Fold in the 1/4 cup (45 g) of milk chocolate chips, and 1/4 cup (40 g) dark chocolate chunks (roughly chopped). Reserve 2 tbsp of dark chocolate chips and 2 tbsp of dark chocolate chunks to press on the top of the cookies just before baking.
10. Scoop out 6 cookies at a time per one baking tray, using a cookie scoop of about 3 tbsp each. Cookies should be a few inches apart from each other. Press each cookie ball slightly down. Press a few more chocolate chips and chunks on top of each cookie ball.
11. Bake in a preheated oven for 16-18 minutes or until slightly golden brown and crispy from the edges and the centre is set and puffed up but still soft and gooey. Keep in mind that they will look a bit under-baked in the middle as they will continue to cook once out of the oven. 
12. Scoop out more cookies from the remaining dough, press down slightly, press more chocolate chips and chunks, cover the tray and pop in the fridge as we are baking one tray at a time.
13. Once baked, let them cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes. After that transfer them to a cooling rack and cool them completely. Enjoy!