Fruitcake Cookies Recipe

Fruitcake cookies. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 I'm not one of those people easily offended by fruitcake. Not a hater. The dense, spicy cake may be an acquired taste, and moderation is certainly a key, but generally I have positive memories of fruitcakes at Christmas. Every December, we would receive a Collins Street Bakery Deluxe fruitcake in its signature red tin, ordered by my grandfather. The cake was stored in the refrigerator and when we had company, it was brought out, sliced very thin and served with my Mom's homemade cookies and eggnog.

Nobody sends me fruitcake anymore, and I guess it's just as well. I do get my candied fruit fix each year when my Mom bakes these fruitcake cookies. These are chewy and tender and so, so good. I've printed the recipe just as it appears in Mom's much-loved copy of a local church cookbook, the 1993 Arbor Heights Cookbook, Vol. II.

Eveleen Lanier's Christmas Cookies
by Brenda Sanders
from 1993 Arbor Heights Cookbook Vol II

by Arbor Heights WMU (Women's Missionary Union)

1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped candied fruit - I used glaceed cherries and pineapple (dried cherries and pineapple would work if you don't like candied fruit)
1 (8 ounce) package flaked coconut
8 ounces pecans

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 300.

2. In a large plastic bag, place flour, then chopped candied fruit. Shake to coat. Add coconut and pecans and shake again.

3. With an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light-colored and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat again.

4. In a bowl, stir together dry ingredients - baking soda, salt and flour.

5. Gradually mix dry ingredients into batter, until fully incorporated. Add floured fruit and nut mixture, stirring by hand.

6. Drop by teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 25 to 30 minutes - low and slow to get that light brown color and chewy texture. Makes 100 cookies. (no kidding).


Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer.

I created a Pinterest board with my favorite cookie recipes, plus a few others that I want to try. Check it out here. 

And let me know if you're on Pinterest!