Ingredients

• ½ c butter softened
• 1 c brown sugar (preferably dark brown but others work fine)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 c buttermilk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ c All purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 c red and green cherries chopped
• 1 c dates chopped
• ¾ c pecans chopped
• ½ c candied pineapple (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400° 

2. Prepare the cherries by coarsely chopping and draining on a paper towel. Chop the pecans and dates, set aside. Save a little less than half of the cherries to place on top of the cookies later. 

3. Cream the butter and sugar together for 2 minutes until smooth. 

4. Add the eggs one at a time and stir for another minute. 

5. Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Stir until incorporated. 

6. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk until combined. 

7. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stop once just incorporated.

8. Fold in the cherries, dates, and pecans. 

9. Place parchment paper or a silicone mat on a baking sheet. Using a cookie scoop (or a spoon) drop dough balls roughly 1 heaping tbsp in size on the baking sheet. Add pieces of cherry on top of each dough ball for a pretty holiday look.

10. Bake for 9-10 minutes until just browning on the edges. Don't over bake, these will still be fairly soft but will firm up once cooled. Let cookies sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Enjoy!