Fruitcake Cookies

Hi fellow foodies! Well, it’s me again with another holiday recipe. Surprise! I bet you are not surprised. I really love holiday baking and I love to share recipes with you. It gives me great joy to be able to share something that I made. Today is no exception.

Recently, I bought a 16 ounce tub of fruit cake mix. It consisted of candied cherries, orange peel, lemon peel, and pineapple. It was $5 and I knew I had nuts at home to accompany the mix. I wanted to make my first home baked fruitcake but realized I would need another $40 in ingredients to make a legitimate fruit cake. Ugh! I did not want to go back to the store but I had my heart set on using my purchase.

I wondered if I could use the fruitcake mix like a mix in for a cookie. I thought it would be pretty good and not as heavy or dense as a fruitcake. That seems to be a common complaint about the dessert and hence, a reason it is often regifted or thrown in the trash.

I set out to brainstorm on how to make my creation. I started out with my base cookie and added fruitcake flavors such as cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Walnuts were added for their nutty goodness and I also added a bit of rum extract to give an alcoholic note. Typical fruitcakes have a bit of bourbon in them which helps preserve the dessert. You could also use a bourbon whiskey extract instead of the rum extract.

The recipe came together easily and the batter looked like a winner. If you’ve baked enough cookies, you start to develop a cookie sense. It’s like a “Spidey sense” (Spider-Man) and it tells you whether you are going to be needing your trash can or a serving platter.

These cookies were definitely headed for a serving platter. They smelled heavenly while baking and they looked decent when they came out of the oven. They just needed a little decoration to dress them up. I decided to add a bit of white cookie icing and half a candied cherry to each cookie. That was just what they needed to look festive.

Now, I just had to try them. I passed them out to my family and waited for their honest reactions. It didn’t take long before I heard the mmmmm sound. They were a hit! I loved them too! They were light and flavorful with spices, fruit, and nuts. They were a holiday success.

These were so yummy that I might freeze them to save for Christmas. Woo hoo!

I hope you will give this recipe a try.

Have fun baking!

😉 Jennifer

Ingredients:

2 cups light brown sugar

1 cup salted butter room temperature

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon rum extract or bourbon whiskey extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups fruit cake mix

1 cup walnut pieces

Cookie icing (white)

Candied cherry halves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream brown sugar and butter together on low speed.

3. Add eggs and continue mixing on low.

4. Add vanilla and rum extract and mix (low speed) until incorporated.

5. In a medium bowl, add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Whisk or stir together until combined.

6. Gradually add dry ingredients to stand mixer ingredients, mixing (low) as you go. Stir in fruitcake mix and walnuts.

7. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Use a cookie scoop or spoon to place tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough to the sheet 2 inches between each one.

8. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 10-12 minutes. Cool and decorate with cookie icing and candied cherry halves. Enjoy!