Chewy Fruitcake Cookies

Some of you may be at this very moment wrinkling your nose at the thought of fruitcake. If ever there were a time to embrace fruitcake, it would surely have to be in a chewy, cookie form. Many thanks to Rock Recipes for this retro inspired treat.

One little tip for making cookies is that if you are using a mix in ingredient like chocolate chips, or in this case, candied fruit, is to reserve a bit and sprinkle it on the top of the unbaked cookie just before baking. That way you get a very pretty little cookie and the toppings aren't completely hidden.

For those that would like less of a strong flavor, I would say you could cut the amount of dried fruit down by half and still get a good flavor. As written it is a bit of a potent flavor, so if you love fruitcake I would say add the full amount of dried fruit, and if you are unsure, perhaps try half or three quarters of the original amount. Enjoy!

Chewy Fruitcake Cookies
Makes several dozen

• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• Note: the cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg are optional here. Traditional light fruitcake does not include spices but you may add them if you wish; the cookies are delicious either way.

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 1/2 cups chopped mixed dried fruit (use whatever you like in whatever combination you like, I've used glace cherries, mixed glace citrus peel, pineapple etc)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray one cookie sheet with spray oil or line with parchment paper.

2. In a medium sized bowl sift together flour, salt, and baking soda.

3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly.

4. Add the flour mixture to the sweetened butter. Mix only enough to incorporate flour. Do not over mix. Fold in the dried fruit

5. Form cookies by dropping a heaping teaspoon of dough on the prepared cookie sheet two inches apart.
Bake until light brown around the edges, about 12-15 minutes, depending on cookie size. Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool thoroughly.

Note from Rock Recipes: Over baking is the biggest problem with most chewy cookies. Your oven temperature and the type of cookie sheet you use will vary the baking times considerably. When they are golden brown around the edges is the time to remove them from the oven.

Recipe from Rock Recipes