Fruitcake is one of the most heart-warming Christmas treats you’d rather return.
Every culture seems to have it’s own variation of the candied fruit-studded alcohol-infused cake, much to the dismay of the multitudes.
Fruitcake cookies are yummy.
These buttery Christmas cookies pack a punch of flavor in a small morsel and are absolutely delicious. They’ll make a believer out of even the toughest fruitcake critic.
Fruitcake haters, I get you. I totally get that your leery about this whole fruitcake cookie idea. I was a skeptic too. If you don’t trust me, maybe you’ll believe Ina Garten, the genius behind the recipe. Seriously, folks, your friends will be knocking down your door with fruitcake cookie recipe requests after you serve these at your holiday parties. I love this flavorful recipe adapted from Ina Garten’s cookbook.
Let’s tie on our aprons now, shall we?
- ½ lb. dried or candied figs
- ¼ lb. raisins
- 2 oz. candied cherries or fruit, coarsely chopped
- 1 T. honey
- 2 T. rum
- 1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 6 oz. chopped pecans
- salt
- ½ lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ t. ground cloves
- ½ c. superfine sugar
- ⅓ c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 egg
- 2⅔ c. all-purpose flour
- Snip off the hard stems of the figs with scissors or a small knife and coarsely chop the figs. In a medium bowl, combine the figs, raisins, cherries, apricots, honey, rum, lemon juice, pecans, and a pinch of salt. Cover let sit overnight at room temperature.
- Cream the butter, cloves, sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth. On low, add egg and mix until incorporated. Slowly add the flour and ¼ teaspoon salt just until combined. Add the fruits and nuts, including any liquid in the bowl.
- Divide the dough in half and place each half on the long edge of a 12 by 18-inch piece of parchment or waxed paper. Roll each half into a log, making an 18-inch-long roll, more or less. Refrigerate until firm or freeze to make things faster.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- With a small, sharp knife, cut the logs into ½-inch-thick slices. Place the slices ½-inch apart on parchment-lined sheet pans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool and store covered.
Have you had a memorable/wonderful/terrible experience with fruitcake? Tell me all about it in the comments below.
JELLI! First, these cookies look so good I just had to pin them!! I’ve never though of making fruitcake into cookies *mind blown*. Second, I am SO impressed with how fast you converted your blog into this new theme! It looks FABULOUS! I will keep calm here but it seriously matches your blog perfectly! Congrats!!!!
Thanks so much, Jessica! I found the theme really easy to install and work with. In fact, it was such a cinch that I almost went overboard tweaking things to the point that I had to stop myself. The main reason I bought this theme was to keep myself from constantly changing up my DIY theme that I had before and to focus on content rather than design.
Happy to surprise you with a new, fun twist on fruitcake. I’d never seen it before either, until I flipped to the dessert section (my favorite!) of my Ina Garten cookbook. You should definitely give them a try!
Saw this on the Marvelous Monday link board and had to check it out! Fruit cake in a cookie!!! What a great way to enjoy this seasonal treat! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
So glad you stopped by, Colleen. These cookies really changed my entire mindset on fruitcake the first time I made them. Seriously, phenomenally yummy! Hope you find time to bake a batch soon.
Wow! These do look good! I might have to try them and give my mind a positive image when it comes to fruitcake. 🙂
Love your new look!
You’re the first to mention the new look, Deanna. I’m so glad you like it. Of course, I’m still working on tweaking it to my liking, but I am also very happy with the way it turned out. For a year I’ve had my eye on the template designer and when she came out with a theme I jumped on it! Hope you love the cookies like we do!
This is great! I had some pre-soaked fruit leftover from when I made Christmas Cakes in November… now I have something I can use it with! Thanks for sharing, pinning now 🙂
Hannah ♫
Sew Lah Tea Dough
Happy to give you a new recipe to try, Hannah! Hope you do love it. Have you shared your Christmas cakes recipe? I’d love to check it out. Thank you so much for stopping by!
Oooo, Jelli, these look great! I am “eh” {shrugs shoulders} about fruitcake, but I think I would really enjoy Fruitcake Cookies! And they’re so unusual and festive- I’ve never seen Fruitcake Cookies. What a great idea- thank you!
I was the same way, Joy. Didn’t like fruitcake and had never seen fruitcake cookies- that’s why I was so intrigued to make and share them. Definitely a fun twist on the traditional fruitcake.
We served fruitcake at our wedding! I love it as long as there is no citrus. I plan to adapt your recipe to resemble my mom’s fruitcake, which features dates, nuts, and cherries.
What a wonderful idea, Julia, adapting the recipe to make it more like your favorite family recipe. Love it! How fun that you served fruitcake at your wedding. I’ll bet your guests were impressed to have something unique and different from the typical cake choices. Thank you so much for stopping by this week!