Pumpkin Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
First let me apologize for the lack of updates. My day job has turned unexpectedly hectic over the past two weeks so sadly cooking has fallen by the way side. Plus hubby and I are going to the mountains for a few days so I tried to tie up as many loose ends as I could before leaving. It felt good to settle down and get back into kitchen for a couple of hours this weekend.
This is a Whole Foods recipe that was featured in their photography contest last week. I’ve never participated in one of their contests but this one caught my attention. Every fall I chuckle at the rash of pumpkin recipes that start to appear in October. I can count the number of times I’ve cooked anything with pumpkin on one hand (this is #3). Our holiday traditions revolved around sweet potato pies not pumpkin pies. There was never any pumpkin bread, pumpkin cupcakes, or pumpkin any thing else when I was growing up. Even now when I see a recipe that calls for it I automatically wonder if I could substitute mashed sweet potatoes. When I saw this recipe, I thought maybe it’s time for me to get on pumpkin bandwagon and see what I’m missing.
These cookies are simple to make and relatively healthy. It’s an interesting twist on an oatmeal cookie with endless possibilities for variations. I had to play with these a bit because the original recipe wasn’t spicy enough for our tastes. Allspice, cloves, and ginger would also be good if you like your cookies really spicy. Make sure you’re using fresh butter and that it’s very soft when you combine it with the sugar. I also made a batch of these with white chocolate chips and they were delicious. If you add chips decrease the cooking time to about 20 minutes. Watch them very carefully.
Pumpkin Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons), softened
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a medium bowl, stir together oats, flour, spices, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, combine butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy – about 3 minutes. This is an important step. Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer and make sure to scrape down the sides a few times. Add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Stir in flour mixture and fold in cranberries.
- Drop cookies by heaping tablespoon onto pan and flatten with the back of the spoon. Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to cooling rack.
