Festive Fruity Cookies Recipes

FRUITCAKE CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients., Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container. (Cookies are best after a few days.)

MY GRANDMA'S FRUITCAKE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease several baking sheets. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, and baking soda in a bowl; set aside.
• Beat together the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture, alternating each addition with about 2 tablespoons of milk until all the milk is incorporated and the dough is soft. Beat in the sherry, and mix in the nuts, raisins, dates, pineapple, and cherries until thoroughly mixed. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are set and the bottoms are very lightly browned, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

HOLIDAY FRUITCAKE DROP COOKIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a reusable silpat.
• Cream together the butter and sugar, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix for another minute.Pro Tip: crack your eggs into a separate bowl and then pour in, this will help avoid any shell pieces in your cookies!
• Pour in the buttermilk and vanilla and mix another minute.
• In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg.
• Add the flour a little at a time to the cookie dough mixture, just until combined.
• Stir/Mix in the candied cherries, dates and chopped pecans. Pro Tip: if you want a more pronounced red and green look, save back 1/2 cup of each color cherries. Then dot the outside of the portioned cookies with the extra pieces.
• Drop the dough onto the parchment lined baking sheet, about a heaping tablespoon each.
• If using the pecan half, place on top of each cookie, pressing down to adhere and spread the cookie a little.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes. They will be done when the very outside edge is just starting to turn golden. They are a very soft cookie so they will seem under done in the center, but will firm up as they cool. Watch the first batch and see how long it takes, then use that time for the remaining batches. If you are baking in batches, place the remaining dough in the refrigerator until needed.
• Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.

FESTIVE FRUITCAKE COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine fruit and nuts in a bowl. Sprinkle 2 or 3 teaspoons of flour over the fruit mixture and stir to lightly coat the fruit.
• Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, vanilla, and almond extract and mix until light and creamy.
• Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the creamed mixture and blend well.
• Stir in fruit mix. The dough will be very stiff - I found mixing with my handmixer dough hooks easier!
• Drop dough by heaping spoonfuls onto parchment covered baking sheets, flattening very slightly with the spoon.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden.

MOM'S CHRISTMAS FRUITCAKE COOKIES

Steps:

• The day before: chop dates into small pieces and put in a glass bowl. Add rum. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for 8 hours, or overnight, to absorb the rum. You can leave this step out if you want but I find it makes the dates more delicious and the cookies have more flavor.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Dice candied cherries and pineapple into small pieces and place in a very large bowl; I use the top of my cake carrier. Add pecans, followed by dates. Add 1 cup flour. Toss well to coat all of the pieces and break them up so they are not sticking together.
• Whisk baking soda into the milk and let it dissolve.
• Mix shortening into the fruit. Add remaining flour, sugar, eggs, orange juice, nutmeg, salt, and milk-baking soda mixture. Mix together with your hands just until you no longer see the flour. Try not to overmix. The batter will be very dense.
• Use a small ice cream scoop or two teaspoons to drop the cookies onto the prepared pans, about 1 inch apart.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on wire cooling racks.