These Fruitcake Cookies are a delicious twist on traditional fruitcake, transforming the classic holiday dessert, into chewy, handheld cookies loaded with the same delicious flavors.
These cookies are packed with candied fruits, crunchy nuts, and warm spices, making them a festive, and delicious addition to any holiday cookie tray.
Why make these Cookies
- Festive Flavor – Packed with candied fruits, and warm holiday spices, these cookies capture the essence of the holiday season.
- Quick and Easy – These cookies are made with traditional cookie ingredients, plus candied fruits, nuts, and spices – without any chilling, the cookies can be made in less than 30 minutes. So much quicker, and easier than traditional fruit cake.
- Perfect for Sharing – Add these cookies to your cookie trays, take them to your next cookie exchange, or make for a holiday party – these are bite sized, easy to transport, and perfect for sharing.
Ingredients Needed
This is a quick overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this Fruitcake Cookie Recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
- unsalted butter – do not substitute margarine or vegan butters for this recipe, we need the real deal.
- brown sugar + granulated sugar – gives the cookies their delicious sweetness
- eggs – to bind everything together
- vanilla extract – adds a nice flavor to the cookies
- all purpose flour – gives the cookies their structure
- baking soda – helps the cookies to rise and gives them their chewy texture
- salt – this balances out the flavor – cut the salt in half, or completely if using salted butter
- ground cinnamon + ground ginger – gives the cookies a nice warm, holiday flavor
- walnuts – or pecans, or a mix of the two
- candied fruit – grab a mix, or chop up your own. I used a fruitcake mix, which includes orange peel, cherries, lemon peel, and pineapple.
How to make Fruit Cake Cookies
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugars. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and sugar in a large bowl for a couple minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, and vanilla extract, and mix until combined.
Step 2: Add in the dry ingredients. Add in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and stir it together until you have a nice soft cookie dough. Add in the walnuts, and candied fruit, and fold them evenly into the dough.
Step 3: Roll into balls. Scoop the cookie dough into 1.5 to 2 TBS sized balls. Roll them into smooth balls and place them onto the lined cookie sheet, about 2 to 3 inches apart from each other as the cookies will spread when baking.
Step 4: Bake the cookies. Bake the cookies until the edges are lightly golden brown and the tops of the cookies look just set. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the cooking sheet. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Tips and Tricks
- Shape the cookies after baking – When the cookies are still hot out of the oven, gently press the edges in with the back of a metal spoon. Press the edges in that are sticking out in off shapes, and make the cookies more circular.
- Add other mix ins – Try switching up the dried fruit with golden raisins, dried apricots, crystalized ginger, or any other dried fruits you like.
Storage Instructions
Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the cookies for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature for a couple hours before serving.
These fruit cake cookies might be the best way to enjoy the flavors of fruit cake, but in a bite-sized hand held form. With their rich, fruity, and nutty fillings – these cookies are chewy and so fun for a delicious holiday treat!
More Cookie Recipes
- Peppermint Sugar Cookies
- Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies
- Toffee Doodle Cookies
- Chocolate Blossom Cookies
If you try these Fruitcake Cookies, please leave a 🌟 rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 cups candied dried fruit (store bought fruit cake mix works great)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet or two with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugars in a large bowl for about 3 minutes. 1 cup unsalted butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar , 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and stir into the creamed butter until combined. 2 large eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Add in the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger and stir all together until you have a soft cookie dough. 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour , 1 tsp baking soda , 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- Add in the fruit pieces, and walnuts and mix them into the dough with a rubber spatula. 1 1/2 cups candied dried fruit , 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
- Scoop the dough into 1 TBS sized portions and place them 2-3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Top each with a couple extra fruit or walnut pieces if desired.
- Bake the cookies for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the edges start to turn light golden and the tops are set. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Shape the cookies after baking – When the cookies are still hot out of the oven, gently press the edges in with the back of a metal spoon. Press the edges in that are sticking out in off shapes, and make the cookies more circular.
- Add other mix ins – Try switching up the dried fruit with golden raisins, dried apricots, crystalized ginger, or any other dried fruits you like.
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