If you run away from the mere mention of the word Fruitcake, these Fruitcake Cookies will change your mind. They are perfect to make for the holidays and all year long.
Fruitcake…yuck. Right? Well, not any more. We love to make these Fruitcake Cookies for the holidays and actually all year long. Let me tell you why. In two words, Maison Auer. Well, in two more words, Nice, France.
Nice is one of my favorite places in the world to be. It is my little piece of heaven when I go anywhere in the Mediterranean area, from the south of France to Greece to Portugal. It is what I think of as the heart of the area. I feel safe and comfortable there, and the region is full of food and wine.
I come home with a suitcase full of goodies from the region that I cannot find anywhere in the states or even order online. I use my stash all the time until my next visit.
One of the first stores I visit in Nice is Maison Auer. This is where I find the most perfect preserved fruits. It sits on the way to the Farmer’s Market. So, I pop in here first, followed by my olive oil store.
I started buying the preserved fruits not because I used them, but because of their beauty. Which meant, I needed to find ways to use these amazing goodies all year long. As I started to work with them, they became part of my everyday cooking in different ways. But these Fruitcake Cookies are a staple year around.
So, you might be asking what is a preserved fruit or fruitcake mix. Simply put, it is a fruit preserved in sugar. Often, the fruit is also soaked in spirits.
You can even pick the fruits you would like to use. You do not need to use fruits you do not like…stick to what you love. I prefer to buy whole preserved fruits and chop them myself.
So, the next time you think of fruitcake, think of a French delicacy and find some perfectly preserved fruits to use. Do not think of preserved fruits as a yucky fruitcake ingredient. Learn to appreciate what they offer by buying good ones. You may just be finding yourself using preserved fruits year around like me.
And if are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit Nice, spend a few days. Wander the streets, enjoy the Farmer’s Market, and most of all, savor and appreciate the food. But when you go to Maison Auer, be sure to bring home a lot of preserved fruit for the year and some of their chocolate, too! It is truly the best.
Fruitcake Cookies You’ll Actually Love
Yield: 2 dozen
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: about 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1⅓ cups flour
- ½ cup butter (1 stick) at room temperature
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1½ cups chopped fruitcake mix (includes orange and lemon peels, green and red cherries, and pineapple).
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a larger bowl, first mix together the brown sugar, white sugar, and butter using a mixer. Once those are well incorporated, add in the flour and spice mixture, egg, and vanilla together.
- Once incorporated, fold in the fruitcake mix.
- On a greased cookie sheet, drop each cookie into about 1-inch balls using a small cookie scooper.
- Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
- Once the time is done, allow the cookies to cool a tad before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Enjoy them with hot cocoa, egg nog, or all by themselves!
Fruitcake Cookies Recipe
If you run away from the mere mention of the word Fruitcake, these Fruitcake Cookies will change your mind. After all, preserved fruit is just fruit in sugar. They are perfect to make for the holidays and all year long.
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cups flour
- ½ cup butter (1 stick), room temperature)
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1½ cups chopped Fruitcake mix (includes orange and lemon peels, green and red cherries, and pineapple).
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a larger bowl, first mix together the brown sugar, white sugar, and butter using a mixer. Once those are well incorporated, add in the flour and spice mixture, egg, and vanilla together.
- Once incorporated, fold in the fruitcake mix.
- On a greased cookie sheet, drop each cookie into about 1-inch balls using a small cookie scooper. o
- Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
- Once the time is done, allow the cookies to cool a tad before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Enjoy them with hot cocoa, egg nog, or all by themselves!
Notes
Yields 2 dozen cookies.
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I am a home cook that does things my way. In my kitchen, I make breakfast, pack lunches, prepare snacks, and cook dinner. During the week, we eat real food that is homemade, organic, and local. On the weekends we do explore more of our local restaurants. I bake my own bread, juice fresh oranges every other day, and make my own kombucha and other weekly favorites.
