Everyone in my family loves fruitcake. Not that yucky thing they sell in the store, or Aunt Shirley’s dried out brick of a fruitcake, but real fruit and booze filled moist fruitcake with real dried fruits and toasted nuts. My favorite recipe is this Druken Fruitcake, but it takes quite a while to make and is pretty expensive. And with this year being so frantic, I decided to get my fruitcake fix in an easier manner with these little fruitcake cookies.
This recipe is based on several fruitcake cookies I’ve found. I tried to take my favorite parts of traditional fruitcake and incorporate them into these cookies. The only thing missing is the booze, but you can fix that by serving them with some hot buttered rum.
This cookie is kind of like shortbread mixed with dried fruits and nuts, so there’s no baking soda or baking powder included in the recipe. The only rise in the dough is from the eggs. It’s a wonderful, soft cookie that is full of spice and boozy fruit.
To start these cookies, I just soak the fruit in warm rum to reconstitute them. Then I just cream some butter and sugar together, add the flour, spices eggs, and then the fruit and nuts. I think these cookies work best when you refrigerate the dough for at least a few hours before baking it. I usually refrigerate the dough overnight. Then just bake up the cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and that’s it!
The fruit, nuts and liqour in this recipe can be changed any way you like. For instance, cherries, blueberries and currants with almonds, or craisins, raisins and apples with walnuts. Just pick out what sounds best to you.
Speaking of milk and butter, I’ve recently partnered with The REAL Seal to bring you some great recipes, like these Fruitcake Cookies made with REAL dairy products. Did you know that The REAL® Seal is the only assurance that what you are buying is made with the wholesome goodness of U.S.-produced cow’s milk? When you buy only products with the REAL® Seal, you can trust that you are buying only products or foods made from cows milk produced in the U.S. Milk and dairy foods are a core part of a healthy diet recommended by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). The DGA recommends 3 servings of low-fat or fat-free milk or milk products for those 9 years or older, 2.5 servings for those 4-8 years old, and 2 servings for those 2-3 years old. Americans are currently consuming about 2 dairy servings per day on average (1.8).
Real dairy makes a difference!
Yield: Serves 4
1 cup tropical dried fruit mix (Dried Pineapples, Dried Papayas, Dried Mangos, Dried Apples, Dried Bananas and Raisins all chopped
2 ounces chopped dates
4 tablespoons spiced rum
3 ounces chopped pecans
3 ounces chopped walnuts
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 whole cloves, ground in a mortar
3 whole allspice berries, ground in a mortar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Add dried fruits and dates to a medium size bowl. Add rum and microwave on high for 60 seconds. Stir well and let cool, until all the liquid is absorbed, about one hour.
Heat oven to 350° and spread nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast nuts for about 10-15 minutes, or just until fragrant. Remove from oven and let cool.
Combine butter, sugars, spices and salt in stand mixer. Mix well until butter and sugar are creamed and lighter in color.
Add eggs and mix well. Add flour and mix until just combined. Add fruits and nuts and mix until just combined.
Place cookie dough on parchment paper and form into a log approximately 24 inches long. Wrap well and refrigerate overnight.
Heat oven to 350°. Cut cookie dough 1/2 inch thick and place on cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 14 - 18 minutes, or until bottoms are just golden brown and cookies are just set. Cookies will look a little underdone.
Remove cookies immediately from baking sheet and transfer to cooling rack. Let cool completely before serving.
This post sponsored by Real Seal. All thoughts and opinions 100% mine.