Oct 21, 2008
These cookies are attractive, moist and delicious -- the perfect fall cookie. The fresh cranberries elevate the cookie to something truly different, perfectly tart. I'd avoid Craisins -- they are neither as pretty, moist nor tart. I sweetened the cookies and boosted the flavor with a 1/2 cup shredded coconut (if you don't like coconut, I'd add 1/4 cup of brown sugar) and added 1/8 tsp. of cloves and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg. I also substituted pecans because I prefer the taste to walnuts. I found there was no good substitute for the orange zest -- it adds a tremendous amount of flavor. Lastly, I drizzled the cooled cookies with powdered sugar mixed with milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Note that because much of the moistness of these cookies comes from pumpkin rather than butter or brown sugar, these cookies do not spread. As a result, round balls of dough will yield puffed golfball/haystacks as noted by another reviewer. To avoid this, when rotating my cookies at the halfway point of baking, I quickly flatten them down with a spatula (much easier than trying to flatten down sticky raw dough). By the time they finish baking, they are nicely puffed but in the traditional round, flat shape of a cookie.
—SoCal Wendy
