The Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen
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Festive Fruitcake Cookies

4.00 Mitt(s) 3 Rating(s)3 votes, average: 4.00 out of 53 votes, average: 4.00 out of 53 votes, average: 4.00 out of 53 votes, average: 4.00 out of 53 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5

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Level: Easy

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Description

Don’t be deterred by the name! These are scrumptious, cake-like delights stuffed with candied fruit and made a little naughty with a nice dose of booze. Highly recommended!

Ingredients

  • FOR THE COOKIES:
  • 3 teaspoons Milk
  • 3 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 stick (1/2 Cup) Regular (salted) Butter, Softened
  • 1-⅓ cup Packed Brown Sugar
  • 2 whole Eggs
  • 1 cup Brandy
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 cups Flour
  • ¾ cups Finely Chopped Pecans
  • 8 ounces, weight Candied Pineapple, Roughly Chopped
  • 4 ounces, weight Candied Red Cherries, Roughly Chopped
  • 4 ounces, weight Candied Green Cherries, Roughly Chopped
  • ½ cups (additional) Flour
  • _____
  • FOR THE GLAZE:
  • ½ cups Brandy
  • ½ cups Packed Brown Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine milk and baking soda and stir. Set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and mix lightly. Add milk/soda mixture and mix. Add 2 cups flour and mix until just combined. With mixer on low, pour in brandy and vanilla and mix until combined. Add nuts and combine.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup additional flour over the chopped fruit. Toss to coat. Add fruit and any excess flour to mixing bowl Mix until just combined. *Batter will be very wet*

Spray baking sheet with baking spray (or use baking mat.) Drop heaping tablespoons of batter, then bake for 20 minutes or until just golden brown. Do not overbrown!

Mix glaze ingredients in a bowl, then spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons of glaze over each warm cookie. Allow to cool. These cookies get better with age! (Well…within reason.)

7 Comments

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dmkemp on 12.23.2010

I made this and am glad to know I’m not the only one who had flat cookies although they do taste good. I used half brandy and half apple juice but they either need less liquid or more flour. Don’t know how Ree got hers to stay in the shape that they did. I did add more flour to the second batch I baked and they didn’t spread as bad as the first batch.

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aprilbapryll on 12.22.2010

Mine were also flat, BUT I think the trick is to a) add a little more flour, maybe 1/4 cup and b) let the dough rest for 20 minutes or so. I cooked them in two batches, and my second batch came out much better than the first.

If I make these again, I’ll also try letting the glaze sit for a day before topping the cookies.

PS – if you like Rum balls, you’d love these cookies. I’m not a huge fan of uncooked alcohol in my food, but I made them for my fruitcake-loving father, so I think they’ll be a hit.

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artsychef on 12.22.2010

I did not have good results with these cookies. They look nothing like the picture and like Porthos, mine were also flat. There was not enough fruit to really get the taste, I thought they tasted too plain to be fruitcake cookies. The liquid glaze rolled right off the cookies onto the newspaper so I let the brandy mixture sit a day and it was thicker and went on better but no way do you need 1-2 teaspoons. Will not make these again.

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adeline on 12.19.2010

Hi,
These sound very good ………just wondering if the alcohol can be replaced with something else when making for children ……… Any ideas ??

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Boozy Gourmet on 12.13.2010

I made these cookies this weekend and they are AWESOME!!! I used a 1T ice cream scooper and baked them in mini muffin tins. I put the milk/baking soda mixture in before the nuts and fruit and it was think and wonderful. I am passing this recipe on to my family and plan on making them again before Christmas.

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beckybakesandcooks on 12.15.2011

I really loved these cookies. All the flavors of fruitcake with a much lighter texture. They are my new favorite holiday cookie. The first time I made these I had the same problems as everyone else. “Dough” was way to runny and the cookies turned out way to flat. I have modified the recipe with much success. They aren’t quite as “full” as Ree’s picture but not flat. Try reducing the brandy to 3/4 cup, increasing the flour to 2-1/4 cups (plus the 1/2 cup tossed with the fruit for a total of 2-3/4 cups flour.) I also cut the glaze recipe in half and used a pastry brush to brush the cookies with glaze immediately after taking out of the oven. Try these modifications, if you like fruitcake at all, you’ll love these.

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Boozy Gourmet on 12.13.2010

I made these cookies this weekend and they are AWESOME!!! I used a 1T ice cream scooper and baked them in mini muffin tins. I put the milk/baking soda mixture in before the nuts and fruit and it was think and wonderful. I am passing this recipe on to my family and plan on making them again before Christmas.

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on 12.8.2010

My dough also much runnier than Ree’s and the cookies were flat. It says 2 1/2 cups of flour and an additional 1/2… The recipe states add 2 cups of flour and later use 1/2 cup of flour over the fruit…seems like 1/2 cup of flour is still missing.

I loved fruitcake as a kid – haven’t had it in awhile. I wasn’t all that excited about the candied fruit when I read the ingredients, but based on my childhood like of fruitcake went ahead. Surprise! – I don’t like the candied fruit as an adult. The boozy cake and nuts were good even in the flat cookies, though, so I might try again with dried fruit and use 3 cups of flour total…actually if I try again I will try a 1/2 recipe.

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