Wow, I have really been on a kick with long-name recipes lately, but I can’t help it!! These cookies have a lot to give and I couldn’t leave a single thing out. So I’d like to present Honeynut Cookies with Pistachio Chocolate and Cranberry Swirl, my latest favorite cookies, because wow are they delicious.

The holiday season is upon us (my favorite season!!) and if you are looking for something that tastes festive, these cookies have it all. Tart cranberry swirl, a perfectly sweet and soft squash base that has a hint of baking spices, and then a crunchy, nutty pistachio swirl that gives you a subtle crunchy and a light chocolatey flavor. So you get chocolate, but not *too* much chocolate, you know?

Overall, they are my holiday dream cookie. Great for gatherings, great for cookie swaps, but perfect for everyday. I keep a few of them frozen and then microwave them – AND OH WHAT A TREAT IT IS.

Why these honeynut cookies are worth making

My first reason, there’s a lot to love! These cookies have:

• A honeynut or pumpkin base that keeps the dough soft, autumnal and perfectly moist.
• A pistachio-chocolate crumble that melts into little pools of nuttiness and richness. It’s just the right amount of chocolate, IMO.
• A tart cranberry swirl that brightens up every bite with color, tartness, and a festive note.

It’s like all your favorite holiday things mixed together – soft pumpkin cookies, pistachio bark, and cranberry jam. But all layered together in one chewy, glossy cookie.

Even better: the prep work is minimal. You roast a squash (or skip that if you’re using purée), simmer a quick cranberry jam, pulse together pistachios and chocolate, and then mix everything up in one bowl with a hand mixer. No stand mixer required! Which is big for us.

Why use honeynut purée vs. pumpkin purée

There are pros and cons to using either variation, which is why I provided both options!

The perks of honeynut purée is that you are really going to maximize your flavor. Honeynuts are naturally concentrated in flavor (it’s because of how the seed was designed, it’s a very cool fact about its agricultural breeding), so they are sweet, custardy, and like butternut squash times ten. The one downside is you have to roast them to get that sweet purée, so it does take a bit more time.

The good thing about using pumpkin purée is the ease! You can get it from almost any grocery store and the canned brands (I like Libby’s) are pretty phenomenal. What you sacrifice in flavor is minimal, and it will cut your prep time for this recipe down by 40 minutes.

You can absolutely swap one for the other here — just use the same weight (150 grams or about 2/3 cup).

How (and why) to make the chocolate pistachio crumble

Instead of just throwing nuts and chocolate into the cookie, I like to make them into a subtle, crunchy mixture that flecks throughout the honeynut cookie dough. I do this by pulsing nuts and chocolate together, so that they are basically one big hybrid that looks like wet sand. This makes it so you get melty chocolate and crunchy nuts all throughout the cookie, not one hunk here and another hunk there. I love it as an eating experience, and it helps the cranberry sauce hold up in the cookie, too.

To make it:

1. Add ½ cup roasted pistachios and 90 grams of dark chocolate to a food processor.
2. Pulse until the mixture looks like wet sand — you don’t want big chunks, but it shouldn’t be fully smooth either. It should be able to come together when you squeeze it with your fingers.
3. That’s it!

If you want to play around, you can swap in hazelnuts or almonds, or even mix milk and dark chocolate for a softer sweetness.

Tips and tricks for swirling the cranberry sauce into this honeynut cookie dough

Storage suggestions and reheating tips for these honeynut cookies

These cookies store beautifully, you can keep them at room temperature or even freeze them for a quick reheat. Here are my favorite options:

• Room temperature: Store in an airtight container for up to 3–4 days. The moisture from the squash keeps them soft, and you can always pop them in the oven for a few minutes at 400°F to re-crisp the edges.
• Fridge: For a slightly denser, fudgier texture, refrigerate for up to a week. I like to pull them out and eat them cold, or use the microwave to get them nice and gooey again.
• Freezer: You can freeze both the baked cookies or the unbaked dough balls.
  • Baked cookies: layer them in a ziploc bag or container for up to 6 months. I love to pull them out and microwave them for a quick and gooey cookie.
  • Dough balls: freeze raw, then bake straight from frozen — just add 2 minutes to your bake time.

Tip: If you chill the dough overnight before baking, you’ll get a flatter cookie with chewier texture. The dough hydrates, the sugar dissolves more evenly, and the flavors meld. It’s good (but not mandatory) to be patient.

Why does this recipe use grams?

Baking is a very finicky and exact science. The only way to ensure complete accuracy is through measuring by weight, and not volume. As much as I wish I could give you multiple ways to measure ingredients, in this recipe measuring by cups might cause some volatility and miss-matched results. I want to ensure you get the best results with this brown butter banana bread recipe (and I want to keep this recipe fool-proof!) so I highly recommend getting a small affordable kitchen scale if you want to move forward with this particular recipe!

Looking for other holiday cookies?

Here are a few crowd-favorites from the blog!

Brown Butter and Bread Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

These bread flour cookies are perfectly dense, chewy and crispy on the edges, and of course, made with brown butter. If you're craving a really good chocolate chip cookie, look no further than this recipe! These cookies will change the game.

Check out this recipe

Pumpkin Miso Caramel Cookies

Pumpkin! Miso! Caramel! Brown Butter! What else do you really need? Not much in this swirled and gooey cookie that has a base that tastes like pumpkin pie, and a swirl that is a decadent, sticky miso caramel. It's a super simple recipe, with beautifully autumnal results.

Check out this recipe

Tiramisu Cookies

These cookies taste so similar to tiramisu that it always surprises me. You'll get notes from the espresso, the rum, the creamy mascarpone and the rich dark chocolate. It might look like a normal cookie, but it will leave you thinking tiramisu was what you had for dessert!

Check out this recipe

And that’s it for these Honeynut Cookies with Pistachio Chocolate and Cranberry Swirl!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3

Honeynut Cookies with Pistachio Chocolate and Cranberry Swirl

5 from 4 votes

These cookies have a lengthy title – but they have a lot to give! Plus, the work is minimal for the cookie that you get. These cookies are soft and tender, with a tart cranberry swirl that perfectly matches the pistachio chocolate crumble that laces throughout the dough. You can use either honeynut purée or pumpkin purée – either is delicious and makes the cookie feel soft, festive and cozy.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time:25 minutes mins

Cook Time:25 minutes mins

Course: Dessert, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, cookies, Honeynut squash, pistachio, pumpkin

Servings: 24 cookies

Equipment

• 1 Hand mixer or stand mixer
• 1 Spatula
• 2 half sheet pans

Ingredients

• 1 small honeynut squash or 2/3 cup pumpkin purée, 5.3 ounces / 150 grams
• 3/4 cup cranberries 3 ounces / 85 grams
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1.75 ounces / 50 grams
• 1/2 cup roasted pistachios 2 ounces / 58 grams
• 1 bar of dark chocolate 3.2 ounces / 90 grams
• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter softened, 8 ounces / 226 grams
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar 2.8 ounces / 80 grams
• 1 cup granulated sugar 7 ounces / 200 grams
• 2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour 9.9 ounces / 280 grams
• 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

• Evenly stagger two racks in the oven and preheat to 400°F.
• Pierce the honeynut squash a few times with a knife, then add it to a baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes at 400°F, or until soft. If you are using canned purée, skip this step.
• When the squash is done, remove it from the oven and decrease the oven temperature to 350°F convection (375°F standard).
• While the squash is roasting, prepare the other fillings. Add the cranberries, 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup granulated sugar to a small pot or sauté pan. Bring the mixture to a simmer and simmer for 9-10 minutes, until the cranberries have burst and the sauce is thickened. Set this aside.
• In a food processor, add 1/2 cup of pistachios and 90 grams of chocolate. Pulse until a pistachio “crumble” forms. It should be the texture of wet sand. Set this aside.
• To a large bowl, add the butter, 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar, and 2/3 cup of your cooked honeynut squash or pumpkin purée. Use an electric mixer to mix this until it is fluffy and smooth, about 3-4 minutes.
• Add the 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger to the bowl. Mix with the electric mixer until everything is well combined and a smooth dough has formed.
• Add in the pistachio chocolate and use a spatula to mix it into the dough.
• Pour in the cranberry sauce, use a spatula to do a few big “folds” so the cranberry sauce is a ribbon throughout the dough. Be sure not to overmix!
• Use a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough into 24 balls. You can either chill the dough overnight for an extra-chewy cookie, or you can bake the cookies immediately for 12-13 minutes at 350°F convection.
• When they are out of the oven, give the pan a light smack on the counter to help the cookies deflate. Let them cool, then enjoy!