Chocolate Cranberry Spice Cookies

Adapted from Tish Boyle's chocolate cranberry spice cookies (The Good Cookie). Part of the reason for making these was to dispose of the rest of our "mascarpone butter" that resulted from overbeating that finicky mascarpone cheese.

Chocolate Cranberry Spice Cookies

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

6 tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cardamom (original recipe used cloves)

pinch of salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup mascarpone butter (from overbeaten mascarpone cheese)

3/4 packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1.5 cups coarsely chopped walnuts, plus 20-30 whole walnuts for pressing into tops of cookies

1. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

2. Use a hand mixer to beat butter and sugars at medium speed until light, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Beat in vanilla extract. Use a fork to add dry ingredients in three additions, mixing until just combined. Stir in cranberries and walnuts. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for an hour.

3. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil.

4. Use an ice cream scoop to drop dollops of cookie dough on sheets (12 per sheet). Bake for 15 minutes or until just set but still soft.