Cranberry Burst Pumpkin Cookies

It is time for some fall recipes! Pumpkin & spice and other delicious goodness! I recently made some oatmeal cookies with fresh blueberries in them, which got me thinking about putting other fresh fruits in cookies. Why do the rules say “dried fruit only in cookies”? There is no reason to not put some freshness into them! So just before Thanksgiving (at least the Canadian Thanksgiving), I realized that pumpkin cranberry cookies would be perfect for the season and a great opportunity to try  fresh cranberries in cookies!

Sure they are tart, but the fun ‘burstness’ of these cookies make for a perfect fall cookie! Yes, a new word was required for these cookies. The cranberries added such a bright punch of flavour and colour that it could only be described as ‘burstness’! Anyways, between the burstness, the tartness, the pumpkin’y softness and the spice, these cookies turned out delicious!

Cranberry Burst Pumpkin Cookies

adapted from Best-loved Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup cinnamon chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla and beat until well mixed.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to the wet ingredients while mixing.
4. Stir in cranberries & cinnamon chips.
5. Scoop with a cookie scoop or use a spoon and drop onto prepared cookie sheets. I like to do both big cookies (about 4 Tb) and small cookies (1.5 Tb). The bigger ones take about 16 minutes to bake while the small ones take about 12 minutes. The should be set in the middle but they will still be soft.