Christmas Fruitcake Cookies
The Christmas season has arrived. As the children are preparing for Santa to make his annual visit from the North Pole, we should be preparing to have a special treat to leave Santa on Christmas Eve as well as our family and friends. Some of us cringe at the thought of rolling out cookie dough and the countless hours it takes to make those cut-out cookies. For all of those that have those cookie fears, I have adapted a cookie recipe that is super-easy, delicious and screams of Christmas. Although the fruitcake has become the punch line to many Christmas jokes, it is actually a delicious treat if prepared correctly. So I have found a way to combine the Fruitcake and the Christmas cookie – The Christmas Fruitcake Cookie. Preheat your oven to 400. With your mixer, cream 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of butter flavor shortening until they are whipped light. Add 2 eggs and continue beating until blended well. In a separate bowl sift 3 ½ cups of all-purpose flour. Set aside ¼ cup of the sifted flour. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp baking soda to the larger amount of sifted flour. Add half of your dry ingredients to your shortening mixture and mix on a low speed. Then add ½ cup of buttermilk continue to mix and then add the rest of your dry ingredient mixture. Continue mixing on medium until it is well blended. In a separate bowl mix 2 cups of chopped walnuts and 2 cups of chopped mixed candied fruit and peels with your ¼ cup of flour that was set aside. The flour will lightly coat your fruit and make them less sticky. Fold this mixture into your dough. Simply drop spoonfuls your dough onto greased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies 8-10 minutes depending on how large your cookies are. For tablespoon size bake at slightly lower temperature for 10-12 minutes. This usually makes about 5 dozen, depending on how large you want the cookies to be.
These cookies will last a couple of weeks in a sealed container and do not have to be refrigerated. They stay soft and chewy and delicious! For a twist on this recipe or if you have a nut allergy you can take out the walnuts and add dates or dried berries in stead. If you want to decorate your cookies place a whole candied cherry on the top of each cookie using red and green candied cherries to be extra festive.
I have been making these cookies for my family and neighbors for several years now and they seem to be the favorite for most people. I usually start getting requests for my fruitcake cookies early in the season. I have already made three batches and they are already all gone. I hope your family and friend enjoy them as much as mine have. I hope this recipe adds some sweetness to your Christmas celebration.
About Jamie Mezzina
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