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Fruitcake Cookies | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | we couldn't believe how fantastic these #Christmas #cookies were. They're great for #holiday baking. #cherries #apricots #fruitcake #dessert

Fruitcake Cookies

Teresa Ambra
These festive holiday cookies are a real treat and will have you drooling after the first bite! They're filled with fruitcake mix, candied cherries, dried apricots and pecans. Then they're iced with vanilla frosting, sprinkled with colored sugar and decorated with pecan halves. Fruitcake Cookies are so delicious, even people who don't normally eat fruitcake will love them!
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Cookies, Brownies and Bars, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 60
Calories 196 kcal

Equipment

  • 3 18x26" cookie sheet pans
  • 2 large mixing bowls
  • 1 electric mixer
  • 1 wooden spoon
  • 1 nut chopper if nuts are not finely diced
  • 1 spatula
  • measuring cups
  • measuring spoons
  • 1 small bowl

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 4 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour (bleached flour toughens baked goods) - see note below about flour amount
  • 3/4 tsp. sea salt
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 cups fruitcake mix
  • 1 cup diced candied cherries
  • 1 cup diced dried apricots
  • 1 cup pecan chips not chopped pecans (these are very finely diced pecans)
  • 32 oz. tub vanilla frosting (two 16-ounce cans)
  • 60 whole pecan halves
  • 1/4 cup red colored sugar crystals for decoration, if desired
  • 1/4 cup red colored sugar crystals for decoration, if desired

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Place diced apricots in a bowl.
  • Pour hot water over top to cover.
  • Allow apricots to reconstitute and plump out—about 10 minutes.
  • Drain very well, set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla, salt, baking powder and baking soda with an electric mixer until smooth.
  • Stir in flour, fruitcake mix, cherries, apricots and pecan chips with a wooden spoon to combine.
  • Make sure cookie dough is well mixed; this may take 4-5 minutes.
  • Shape dough with hands into golf ball-sized dough balls and place a couple inches apart on greased cookie sheets.
  • Bake for 13-15 minutes or until edges are light brown.
  • (My cookies took about 24 minutes to bake while rotating the racks every eight minutes).
  • Cool cookies completely before frosting.
  • Spread vanilla icing over top of each cookie.
  • Sprinkle red or green sugar crystals over top of the icing on each cookie.
  • Place a pecan half in the center of each cookie.
  • Allow icing to set before serving.
  • Rotate cookies on racks every 6 to 8 minutes while baking.

Notes

NOTE: I was baking 4 racks at a time with 24 cookies per cookie sheet. My cookies took longer to bake – about 20-24 minutes.
 
NOTE: I made several batches of this recipe. One with 3 ½ cups flour and one with 4 ½ cups flour. With 3 ½ cups flour the cookies flattened out too much on the cookie sheet and ran together. With 4 ½ cups flour the cookies held their shape too much and I had to flatten them with a fork while baking. I recommend a happy medium of four cups of flour.
 
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

Nutrition

Calories: 196kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 88mgPotassium: 73mgFiber: 1gSugar: 22gVitamin A: 184IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg
Keyword cherries, cherry dessert, cookie, dessert
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